Important Animals (continued)

F. Falcons

Birds were important in Islamic cultures, too! They were used for recreational hunting (falcons) and for delivering messages (pigeons).

Falcons were trained as hunting birds. They would then attack ducks and geese and bring them down for their masters to capture. (Even today falcons are popular in Arabia, but the birds are very expensive costing thousands of dollars.)

Courtesy of United Arab Emirates

This is part of a Turkish miniature painting showing hunting with bow and arrow and with a falcon, 16th century. "Hunt". Arifi, Guy-u Chawgan. From Sarai Albums. Istanbul, 1539. Hazine. 845, folio 34b-35a. Topkapi Collection.

If you like, learn more about it. Learn more about Falconry in United Arab Emirates! See more falcons and falconers. Read "A Brief History of Falconry" which tells that falcons were first used by man as hunting birds about 4,000 years ago in Asia Minor. (Some highlights are listed below.) The ancient Hittites and Greeks also had hunting birds. The famous Greek poet Homer told of "using birds of prey to hunt with" among the people found in the travels of Ulysses in the Odyssey in the 13th century B.C. Falconry was apparently brought into Japan in 244 A.D. The trained birds were brought from "elsewhere" as a gift for a Japanese prince. One story from the Arabian Knights tells how a young prince by the name Temoudjin and another prince, around 1180, had just lost a battle, and were making their way through the desert. They were without weapons or food and were dying of hunger. They had almost abandoned hope, when Temoudjin saw a wild hawk. The other Prince said, "God is sending us our food, let us chase the hawk away, seize its quarry and then we can eat"...Temoudjin said, "No, we will only be given food if we are able to earn it." So the two caught the hawk, trained it to catch food for them, and shared the food with the bird. Almost two years later they were able to return to their own country. Now suppose IF Temoudjin had died of hunger and not trapped and trained the hawk. History would have never known the man Temoudjin - who was to become: Genghis Khan, the greatest conqueror in history!

 

 

G. Pigeons

Pigeons were used as carriers of messages during the Mamluk period when Egypt controlled much of the Middle East. Thousands of pigeons were part of the royal "mail service". Pigeons were trained by being raised and fed in one neighborhood, then taken to another area. When released they would return to their homes. Messages were written on lightweight paper and attached to their legs.

See the castle on Pharaoh's Island (off the Red Sea) where carrier pigeons were released toward Cairo. Pigeons carried messages during the Mamluk Dynasty of Egypt.

From Rise of Islam by Moktefi (Out of Print)

Miniature painting showing training of birds on a roof. [Biblioteque Nationale, Paris, France]

H. Animal Pests - Locusts, an insect like a grasshopper, have caused much crop damage for thousands of years in the Middle East and elsewhere. Plagues of locusts in Egypt was told about in the Qur'an and in the Old Testament of the Bible at the time of Moses. These insects can destroy a field of grain in hours because they can eat so much.

Courtesy of GeoImages, UCB, Professor Miller, Morocco.

 

Adult locust, courtesy Australian Plague Locust Commission.

 

Go to Part One: Camels Go to Part Two: Horses and Donkeys Go to Part Three: Herding Animals such as Sheep and Goats You are here at Part Four: Other Animals Go to Part Five: Animals in the Middle Ages to learn about zoos, study of animals, and endangered animals.