Animals in Ancient Egypt

EGYPTIAN ENVIRONMENT
EGYPTIAN ANIMALS
CATTLE
DONKEYS
FISHING

A lot of different kinds of animals lived in ancient Egypt. Wild animals included crocodiles, who lived in the Nile River water (and there are still lots of crocodiles in the Nile today, too!), and lots of water birds like herons and cranes and ibises who lived along the banks of the Nile (and still do today). People were most afraid of the hippopotamus, which was a fierce animal that lived in the river.

There were also a lot of frogs and lizards and fish who lived in the river and along its banks. There were many ducks and geese.
On the land, there were gazelles and camels.

Crocodile

Egret

Gazelle

Frog

Hippopotamus

Camels

And the ancient Egyptians had tame (domesticated) animals as well, like donkeys, camels, cattle, and sheep and goats. They also had pet cats.

Cat (Abyssinian)

Donkeys

To find out more about Egyptian animals, check out these books on Amazon.com or in your local library:

Farming & Food (The Ancient Egyptians), by Jane Shuter (1998). For kids.

Everyday Life in Ancient Egypt, by Lionel Casson (revised edition 2001). Not especially for kids, but pretty entertaining reading, and Casson knows what he's talking about.

The Cat in Ancient Egypt, by Jaromir Malek (1997).