Ostrich eggs, and ostrich feathers worn on the heads of warriors, seem to have a lot of importance and mythology attached to them in old Somali culture.
Ostrich feathers were also worn on the head by ancient Egyptian soldiers. Apparently it later become more prestigious and was mostly or exclusively worn by royalty.
Archeologicists have found egg shell decorations in the A group pre dynastic cultures. Nubians were also later especially associated with the practice of wearing ostrich feathers on their heads
“Feathers that have been identified as ostrich were worn in the hair of Libyans and Nubians (fig. 6). This ethnic association of Nubians with the feather is so close that the text of a Dynasty 20 letter refers to an escort group as “feather-wearing Nubians” (Wente 1990: 38).
Libyans offering ostrich feathers and eggs to the AE phaorah akhenaton.
We also find out from the Egyptian descriptions one of the items exchanged by the Puntite was ostrich feathers. The fact they traded this with the Puntites instead of sourcing it from the closer Nile valley populations could indicate that the particular feathers or ostriches of puntite were of more mythological important or value. This would not surprise us since they referred to the Land of Punt as the “land of the gods” and they were importing myrrh, incense and other commodities from the region.
Christopher Ehret has always claimed that the Nubian cultures and possibly other neighbouring cultures had a profound impact on the culture and art of AE. It would be interesting if more research was carried out how deep this impact was. It would prove the Eurocentric racist wrongs as they claim AE to have been a solely Mediterranean culture who looked down on their “black neighbours”.
