Portrait of an ichneumon, what the Egyptians call rat of the pharaohs
Date 30 September 2013, 22:23:16
Source 1588, Les Observations de plusieurs singularitez et choses mémorables trouvées en Grèce, Asie, Judée, Égypte, Arabie...
http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=VYcsgAYyIZcC&q=ichneumon+#v=snippet&q=ichneumon&f=false
Author Pierre Belon
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:IchneumonPierreBelon.png

The Egyptian mongoose or the ichneumon (Herpestes ichneumon) is a species of mongoose. The Egyptian mongooses can be found in Egypt, Spain, Portugal, Palestine, and most of sub-Saharan Africa, except for central Democratic Republic of the Congo, western South Africa, and Namibia.