MUSEUM  OF  NATURAL  HISTORY  PUBLICATION  FOR  EDUCATORS
VOLUME 33  NO. 1  SPRING 2012
ANTHRONOTES™
˜ ˜ ˜
CREATURES OF THE GODS: ANIMAL MUMMIES
FROM ANCIENT EGYPT
by Salima Ikram
If  you’re a pet lover, you might want to take a timemachine back to Ancient Egypt where you couldarrange to keep your pet with you – forever!  Al-though mummies are synonymous with ancient Egypt,few people realize that the ancient Egyptians also mum-mified animals, including their pets.
Pet mummies are the kind of mummy that reso-nates most closely with us now. From the Old Kingdom(c. 2663-2195 BC) onward, Egyptians are pictured intheir tombs with their beloved pets, thus ensuring theircontinued joint existence in the Afterlife.  Occasionallythe pets would even have their names carved above theirimage, providing further insurance for their eternal life.This was particularly true of hunting dogs that were im-mortalized with their names such as “Swifter than theGazelle” or “Slayer of Oryx”.
Devoted pet-lovers buried their animals withthem. If  the animal died during its owner’s lifetime, itwas mummified and kept safely until the owner’s death,perhaps even in the tomb that was begun quite early in aperson’s life. If  the animal died after its owner’s demise,it could be mummified and placed in the tomb with itsmaster, or in the courtyard just outside, as was the casewith a pet monkey excavated outside a tomb in Thebesor a horse associated with the family of Senenmut, thearchitect of the magnificent funerary temple of QueenHatshepsut built at Deir el-Bahari. Some pets, like hu-
mans, enjoyed splendid burials, complete with elaboratecoffins and food offerings.
Pets were only one of several kinds of animalmummies, which actually far outnumber human mum-mies.  Mummification was carried out in order to pre-serve the body for eternity so that the soul (ka and ba)could inhabit it in the Afterlife. A large range of animalspecies were mummified, including cattle, baboons, rams,lions, cats, dogs, hyenas, fish, bats, owls, gazelles, goats,crocodiles, shrews, scarab beetles, ibises, falcons, snakes,lizards, and many different types of  birds. Even croco-dile eggs and dung balls were wrapped up and pre-sented as offerings.
Animals were mummified throughout Egyp-tian history; however, the majority of animal mummiesdate to the Late and Graeco-Roman Periods. These pe-riods saw an upsurge in animal cults perhaps becausethis was a time when Egypt was being invaded by otherworld powers. Such invasions caused the Egyptians toseek a variety of ways in which to express their ownsense of  identity, individualism, and nationalism. Animalcults might also have been a call to local divinities toprovide succour during times that were difficult for theEgyptians. [For a discussion of  chronology and a list ofEgyptian dynasties and dates, go to page 23.]
Page 2
AnthroNotes  Volume 33  No.1  Spring  2012
Animal Mummies: Five Categories
Pets occupy one clear category of animal mummies; food,sacred, votive, and ‘other’ make up the four other basicanimal mummy categories.  Food mummies are very pe-culiarly Egyptian. These consist of  mummified foodsor victuals, such as beef ribs, steaks, ducks, and geese,which were placed in tombs so the tomb owners wouldnever go hungry. The meat and poultry were prepared asif all ready to be cooked: meat was skinned, poultry wasplucked and eviscerated, wing tips and feet removed. Afterdesiccation the liver and giblets were returned to the bodycavity. Some of  the mummies are colored brown; it ispossible that a roasted appearance (browning) was givento such mummies by the application of very hot resin onthe bird that slightly cooked/seared the mummy’s exte-rior surface. Tests show they were preserved using saltand natron similar to the way in which beef jerky is pre-pared. Most of these bandaged meats were placed in in-dividual sycamore-wood ‘coffinets’ shaped to the meat’sform and dimensions —  all ready to be consumed bythe deceased. Tutankhamun had more than 25 such meatmummy coffinets buried with him.
Some animals were worshipped during their life-times as sacred animals, the third mummy category. It wasbelieved that certain gods would send their ‘essence’ intothe body of a chosen animal that was distinguished bybeing patterned or colored in a specific way. After theanimal’s death, the god’s spirit would enter the body ofanother similarly marked animal. This idea is similar to theidea of the eternal soul of the Dalai (and other) Lamawhose soul is eternal, but remains on earth in a series ofdifferent bodies. During the animal’s lifetime it was wor-shipped and treated as a god, and after its death, it wasmummified and buried with great pomp. The most fa-mous sacred animals are Apis Bulls and the Rams of El-ephantine. The Smithsonian’s collection includes two sa-cred bull mummies — the only such in all of the Ameri-cas. However, these bulls are probably not Apis Bulls thatwere dedicated to the god Ptah, but rather, were sacredto the sun god, Re.
The fourth category, votive animal mummies, arethe most plentiful of  all mummies. These consist of  mum-mified animals that were dedicated to specific deities. Eachgod had a specific animal that was his or her totem orsymbol: cats were sacred to the goddess Bastet, goddess
of self-indulgence and pleasure; ibises and baboons tothe god Thoth, god of writing and knowledge; raptorsand shrews were given to the diurnal and nocturnal mani-festations of the sun god Re. These mummified animalswere purchased and offered by pilgrims at shrines dedi-cated to these gods, a custom that was particularly popu-lar during the first millennium BC. The mummified ani-mals would present the pilgrim’s prayers to the godthroughout eternity, much in the way that votive candlesare purchased and burned in churches. Once consecrated,during a special festival, the mummified animals wouldbe taken in procession, and buried en masse in vast cata-combs that housed millions of  such creatures. Many ofthese animals were deliberately killed due to high demandand because they were considered sacrifices to the god —i.e. they were going to a better, eternal life, united withtheir deity. The majority of  animal mummies in museumcollections today belong to this category of animalmummy. Some of  these were also placed in his/her owncoffin.  For example, the Smithsonian has a hawk mummyhoused in a wooden image of a hawk. Among this group
The cat is beautifully wrapped in
a complex coffered diamond pat-
tern with its facial features mod-
elled in linen and enhanced by
paint. Radiographs show that this
relatively young cat might have
been killed by strangulation.
NMNH Department of Anthropol-
ogy, A381569.
Page 3
AnthroNotes  Volume 33  No. 1 Spring  2012
one might also place the ‘false’ mummies. These weremummy bundles that appeared to contain a bird or cat ordog, but when examined have proven to be formedaround a bit of mud or a bone from some other crea-ture, or even to be filled with feathers or bits of  fur. Thepriestly embalmers might have made them to deceive pil-grims intentionally; to be less cynical, these mummies couldhave been made when there was a scarcity of the appro-priate animals. In the latter case, the priests may have usedthe idea that a part symbolized the whole, and with thecorrect spells and incantations, the fragments of an animalwould become complete offerings for the gods. Alterna-tively, these bundles might actually contain the detritus ofmummification, and as that too was sacred, it had to beinterred in a holy place.
The fifth and final category of  animal mummy,‘other,’ covers those animal mummies that do not fit com-fortably into any of  the other four categories. A group offive ducks and geese, which were mummified and placedas a foundation offering at the funerary temple of KingThutmoses III (1479-1424 BC) in Thebes, represents anexample of such mummies, as does another group ofanimals (ibis, dog, and monkey) found in a tomb sur-rounding the body of the deceased. It is hoped that fu-ture work will allow us to better understand and decodethis group of  mummies.
Methods Used for Mummification
Mummification methods varied, but perhaps the mostcolorful was saved for large mammals. In the case of  acow, for example, its internal organs might have been dis-solved by a cedar oil enema that was introduced into thebody via the anus and the hole then plugged up. The cowwould then be buried in natron for at least 40 days and,once dry, flushed of  the cedar oil by pressing the dis-solved internal organs out of the anus, which were thenwrapped in the usual manner.  But this was only one of  alarge number of  different approaches.
The variety in the methods used might be due tothe different requirements for various creatures (differ-ences engendered by fur, feathers, or fins), economic con-straints, the preferences of specific embalming houses,preferences of different towns/cities/villages, or changesin technology over time. Insufficient research has beencarried out to explain fully and satisfactorily the reasonsfor these variations in mummification.
The main purpose of mummification was topreserve the body so that it could act as a vehicle for thesoul. Thus, the central focus of the preparation was todehydrate and de-fat the body, particularly relevant formammals. Natron, a naturally occurring mixture of  so-dium carbonate and sodium bicarbonate, was the key in-gredient in both animal and human mummification. Thebody was eviscerated through a cut (generally) in the ven-tral surface; the body cavity was then packed with packetsof natron wrapped up in linen; and the body was buriedin the powdered natron. For humans this lasted for 40days; for animals this probably varied with the type ofanimal. It is also possible that mass immersions of crea-tures took place in order to fulfil the demand for votivemummies. Once desiccated, the animals were removedfrom the natron, dusted off, and rubbed with sacred oils
When this bundle that
is wrapped in the dis-
tinctive form of a ba-
boon was CT-scanned
(see below), it was
found to be an ancient
fake (filled with linen
rags and a stick). By the
Late Period baboons
and other primates had
to be imported into
Egypt from sub-Saharan
Africa. Thus monkey
mummies were expen-
sive and prone to being
falsified.  NMNH  De-
partment of Anthropol-
ogy, (A542222).
Page 4
AnthroNotes  Volume 33  No.1  Spring  2012
in order to provide some flexibility to their limbs prior tobeing wrapped. In some instances hot resin mixed withoil was applied to the animals. This mixture sometimesburned through the fur/feathers/scales and fixed itselfto the bones. After the anointing with oils and resins, theanimal was wrapped in linen. During the Graeco-Romanera the outermost wrappings could be very elaborate, tak-ing the form of  varied shapes or different color stripes.Some raptors and cats even had masks made ofcartonnage (a sort of  papier maché) placed over their heads.Sacred animals were adorned with amulets prior to beingwrapped, with more amulets spread throughout the wrap-pings.
Some of the bird mummies might have beenproduced in a simpler way: the bird was eviscerated,dipped into a mixture of oil and resin, or resin and bitu-men, and then wrapped up. A few bird mummies thathave obviously been treated with resin and oil mixtureswere gilded, either entirely, or on the heads. No doubtthis stressed the association of these birds with the sungod, Re. Other birds show no sign of any application ofoils — they simply were desiccated and then wrapped.
Mummification as a Business
The production of animal mummies — from obtainingthe animals to mummifying them — was a major part ofthe Egyptian economy, particularly during the first mil-lennium BC. Masses of animals had to be bred and caredfor, engendering ibis, puppy, and kitten farms. Specificpriests were assigned to care for the votive animals, and ahigher rank of priests cared for the Sacred Creatures; allthese priests had to be supported by temple income. Theembalmers enjoyed a booming business, and skilled work-ers, such as those who mixed the resins and oils or cre-ated the elaborately patterned bandaging, had to be paid
especially highly. Resins, including frankincense and myrrh,were imported from distant places, such as Syria, Ethio-pia, Somalia, and Arabia, which contributed to interna-tional trade, while the trade in the tons of natron neededto mummify large numbers of animals fostered the localeconomy. Certainly animal mummification contributed tothe wealth of the temples, the embalmers, and all thoseinvolved in animal cults.
Despite the vast number of animal mummiesfound in Egypt, they have only been studied in a holisticway at the end of  the 20th century. For much ofEgyptology’s history, most scholars viewed animal mum-mies as mere curiosities and collected them more as con-versation pieces or as manifestations of strange religiousrituals than for any more scientific purpose. However,there were some exceptions to this.
Naturalists were very interested in animal mum-mies and from the very end of the 18th through the 19thand early 20th centuries, they collected mummies in orderto analyze their bones and identify the species that werefound. The late 20th century saw a resurgence of interestin animal mummies when scholars realized just how muchinformation they could glean from these artifacts if  theywere studied holistically. By identifying species, mode ofdeath, method of mummification, and signs of disease,
This wooden case carved in the shape of a raptor contains
a mummified falcon. NMNH Department of Anthropology,
A423000.
This ceramic vessel is roughly made in the shape of an egg
and contains a mummified ibis that is handsomely
wrapped. In this way, the ibis can hatch from its ‘egg’ and
then be reborn and live forever. NMNH Department of
Anthropology, A279283.
Page 5
AnthroNotes  Volume 33  No. 1 Spring  2012
one can obtain a wealth of  information on ancient Egyp-tian environment, religion, veterinary practices, mummifi-cation technology, trade, and culture. Scholars started touse sophisticated imaging technologies on animal mum-mies, including x-rays and CT-scans, hitherto reserved forhuman mummies. These scans are used to identify andexamine the animals within the wrappings without dis-turbing the contents, while embalming materials can beidentified using high temperature gas chromatography(HTGC) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry(GC-MS) GCS. Large-scale DNA studies are being un-dertaken to find and trace changes in the genome of cer-tain animals, such as ibises; or to trace the geographic dis-persal of animals, such as cats; or to document multiplesites for the domestication of cattle.
These and other studies emphasize the impor-
tance of  animal mummies, not just to the ancient Egyp-tians, but also to us today. Such studies provide not onlysources of  information about animals, the ancient envi-ronment, and Egyptian technology and culture, but alsoserve as a window into the complex and close relation-ship between humans and animals in ancient Egypt.
Further Reading
Armitage, P. L. and J. Clutton-Brock. 1981. “A Radiological andHistological Investigation into the Mummification of Cats fromAncient Egypt.” Journal of Archaeological Science 8: 185-96.
Daressy, G. and C. Gaillard. 1905. La Faune Momifiée de l’AntiqueÉgypte. Cairo: IFAO.
Ikram, S., ed. 2005. Divine Creatures: Animal Mummies in AncientEgypt. Cairo: American University in Cairo Press.
Salima Ikram is Department Chair and Professor ofEgyptology at American University in Cairo and Guest Cu-rator of  the exhibition “Eternal Life in Ancient Egypt.”
˜ ˜ ˜The recently opened exhibit, Eternal Life in Ancient Egypt, atthe National Museum of  Natural History, was developedunder the leadership of Melinda Zeder, senior scientist andcurator of  Old World Archaeology in the Smithsonian’sDepartment of  Anthropology. Physical anthropologistDavid Hunt co-curated the exhibit with assistance fromBruno Frohlich and guest curators Salima Ikram (Ameri-can University, Cairo) and Lana Troy (Uppsala University,Sweden). Visit the exhibition website at http://www.mnh.si.edu/exhibits/eternal-life/.
The Radiograph of the bull, below, shows that it contains a
somewhat jumbled skeleton of a bovid. The animal was
relatively young when it died.NMNH Department of Anthro-
pology, A413942.
A lizard coffin that was probably suspended in the temple
or in catacombs. The lizard was sacred to the god Atum,
one of the creator gods. NMNH Department of Anthropol-
ogy, A129627.