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Coptic. Frieze of Animals in Plant Scrolls, 4th century C.E.. Limestone, pigment, 14 3/8 x 50 3/16 x 4 5/8 in., 131 lb. (36.5 x 127.5 x 11.7 cm, 59.42kg). Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 41.1266. Creative Commons-BY.
By the time this frieze of animals was carved in the fourth century C.E., most Egyptians were Christians and had adopted a biblical view of animals as subordinate to humans. Though animals continued to play an important role in decoration and symbolism, there was no place for animals with souls in Christian thinking.