Louvre Museum, Arts de l'Islam collection

Fragments of sculpted ivory decoration: panels with dancer and hunters.
11th or 12th century

In this depiction of wolf (or fox) hunting, an aide takes hold of the prey captured by the eagle. One often had to help birds with muscular prey, as their violent defence risked injuring the bird: the horse was therefore of great importance to reach the places of capture as quickly as possible.