Fit for the Job: Proportion and the Portrayal of Cattle in Egyptian Old and Middle Kingdom Elite Tomb Imagery

Depictions of the natural world are an intrinsic feature Egyptian visual culture, with vast array imagery documenting animals a testimony to fundamental role they played. Despite significance in Egypt, anthropocentric bias still exists research on methods used by practitioners during initial scene composition. To help bridge divide, author herein undertook investigation determine if proportional guides were place when rendering animal figures ancient elite tomb Old and Middle Kingdoms. A notable outcome analysis was identification two distinct body-types for domestic cattle (Bos taurus taurus). The aim current paper is further examine these differences explore variations physique (namely distance between chest floor withers) rendered reflect conditions which appeared considering overarching factors: (1) biological factors (2) contextual factors. As such, study will employ challenge prevailing perspective deregulated approach illustrating fauna imagery, highlighting within Egypt.