As we have seen in this series, animals played an important role in the imaginations of Egyptian Christians, but they had an equally, if not more important, material role. In an age before steampower or electricity, animals served as a major “power source”: horses, donkeys, camels, and cattle would transport goods and human riders across hundreds or thousands of kilometres, serve as mounts or logistical support in war, compete in races, or turn wheels to irrigate fields or mill grain. Other animals would serve other roles – sheep providing wool, cows and goats producing milk used to make cheese, chickens laying eggs which could be eaten, and all of these…
