Divine Animals

Divine Egypt at the Metropolitan is a great exhibition in many respects. Aside from being a visual treat, the show is a good illustration of a bygone relationship between humans and animals which existed in early civilizations.

For the people of Ancient Egypt, the wild animals in their ecosystem – lions, crocodiles, hippos, snakes, scarab beetles, birds of prey – were closely tied to their religious beliefs, rituals, cosmic order, and sense of history. Their gods were strange hybrids of animal heads and human bodies, who supported and communicated with the pharaohs (mostly) but also with the ordinary populace. The divine presence related in equal measure to the world of humans and to the fauna, emphasizing the indelible connection between the two realms. 

Further centuries slowly eroded this relationship to the point of virtually complete separation by the start of the 19^th century. The “marginalization of animals”, in the words of John Berger, corresponded to the opening of the first public zoos in European capitals. As animals disappeared from daily life, they became exotic species to be viewed in artificial displays.

Presently, there are signs of reviving an interspecies environmental consciousness. The writings of Emanuele Coccia, for example, affirm the continuity of all lifeforms, from humans to animals and even to plants, as parts of an interconnected form of life.  Paradigm shift of this kind needs to find support in children’s early education.  Why not start with toys that, like Egyptian divinities, merge nature’s creatures with the most artificial of figurines, the Barbie dolls?