Ostriches were hunted by the Egyptians from earliest times.
This practice was commemorated on rock- drawings dating to the
Predynastic Period.
Ostrich eggs were widely used during that period in order to
serve various purposes. Their contents provided food, whereas
emptied eggs were used as containers. Small ornaments were also
made from ostrich egg-shells which are considered to be amongst
the earliest objects of any kind from Ancient Egypt. From the
Badarian Period onwards, the shells were worked into jewellery.
They were employed for disc beads, pendants and amulets.
On the other hand, a few ostrich eggs were decorated with
incised or painted designs which took the form of geometric
decoration or drawings of birds and animals. These decorated eggs
are of a great interest from an archaeological point of view, they
shed light upon an important era of the Ancient Egyptian
civilization.