Jerboas, rodents quipped with powerful hind legs and very long tails for balance, are capable of leaping large distances to escape predators. They are nocturnal desert dwellers, common in Egypt, thriving in arid conditions and feeding on plant material. Here, this animal, possibly a portrait of a pet, [they are said to be shy but easily tamed] is shown eating a date, holding the fruit in its tiny front paws. The name jerboa is said to derive from Arabic words meaning `meaty thighs’, and for a mouse-like creature, they are certainly big. Their burrows are deep and include a sleeping chamber with a nest made of camel's hair or shredded vegetation.

Jean-Baptiste Adanson was a diplomat, antiquarian and draughtsman, and brother of the naturalist Michel Adanson. Jean-Baptiste was the official French interpreter at various cities in Egypt and Syria, and became French consul in Egypt from 1775 until 1785. He compiled a large collection of his drawings of natural history, antiquities and views, yet a proposal in 1795 by a Committee of the Convention Nationale in Paris to publish his material was never realised. In some ways he anticipated Napoleon’s project of recording modern and ancient Egypt, which was finally published under the title of Description de L’Egypte in the early years of the nineteenth century.