Donkeys, Genies, and Demons: Fantastical Creatures in Ancient Egyptian Ritual Texts and Funerary Assemblages

Abstract

The donkey was depicted in Egyptian tomb scenes since the Old Kingdom. By the end of the Old Kingdom, the donkey represented an ambivalent creature that could either assist the nightly journey of Re or be a malevolent force supporting Seth or Apophis. Depictions of donkeys and hybrid donkey creatures survive from the Third Intermediate Period onward in papyri and they appear as guardians on temple walls during the Greco-Roman period. The spearing or harpooning of donkeys, along with hippopotami, turtles and pigs, continued as a magical and ritual theme after the Late Period with some survival into the early Roman era.