Pigeons and papyrus at Amarna: the birds of the Green Room revisited

Ancient Egyptian art features many carefully observed depictions of wild animals and birds. A famous example is the late Eighteenth Dynasty (fourteenth-century BC) wall paintings Green Room in North Palace at Amarna, where naturalistic birds feature prominently. Their taxonomic identity, however, not resolved all cases. Here, authors revisit facsimiles produced 1920s by Nina de Garis Davies. Mindful previous works, taphonomy interplay between observation artistic licence, they employ ornithological resources to conduct a qualitative assessment propose parsimonious scheme identifications, relating results long-standing questions concerning ecological stylistic aspects artwork.