Thursday 13 November 2014

OBJECT 8: Model of four cattle (made around 5,500 years ago). Painted clay, found at El Amra, southern Egypt


When the green savannah grass of the Sahara began to dry and wither,
And the giraffe, gazelle and elephant had disappeared forever,
When water was scarce and soil became sand,
And dry arid desert consumed the land,
When the crops in the fields failed without rain,
And hungry hunters wandered the plain,
Searching for food, for something to kill,
They saw herds of cattle were living there still...

Milk and blood, milk and blood
Domesticated cows chewing the cud,
There is meat at hand when times are tough,
When famine strikes and there's not enough.
Horn and skin, horn and skin,
Hides to wear and food within,
Beneath the glare of a remorseless sun,
A vein is cut; the living liquid begins to run,
The cow stands silent, bleeding its sacrifice into the waiting bowl,
As its human master drinks his daily toll.

Milk and blood, horn and skin,
The taming of the world and all within,
The overlord of nature stakes his claim,
The world and its creatures are all fair game.

A grave in the desert - A23,
Body, male, and what else can we see -
Contents: baton of clay in red stripes with imitation mace-head, small red pottery box,
Leg bones of a small animal, pots...
And a stand of four clay cows.
An archaeological find in the Egyptian desert sand,
Four horned clay cows grazing fertile land,
Tiny statuettes moulded from the mud of the Nile,
Four tiny cows standing in file,
Waiting patiently for resurrection when they will bleed and slave,
A symbol of life in the pit of a grave,
Beasts of burden to ease a poor farmer's strife
In the eternal realm of the afterlife.

And where would we be without the cow?
The world would not be what it is now:
Cows in the meadow,
Milk cows in the parlour,
Wild West cowboys creating a drama,
Steak and burgers, burgers and steak,
Beef on the table, potatoes to bake,
Cheese for the board, butter for bread,
And four clay cows wait to be led,
To the celestial pastures by the Nile in the sky;
A Milky Way river that flows on by,
Where the cow will be crowned, Hathor, the eye of Ra,
Worshipped as fertile goddess, wide and far.

Milk and blood, hide and meat,
The model cows still stand so neat,
Painted pottery cattle on a field of clay,
Undisturbed until this day,
Waiting for their master’s voice, with jubilation
To summon them to a destiny of subjugation.