Mummified moggies
Posted on 16 September 2004
Ancient Egyptians mummified animals with as much care and expense as they did humans. This is the finding of research by Dr Stephen Buckley, Wellcome Research Fellow in Archaeology at the University of York, which is published in the journal Nature on 16 September.
It has been a commonly held belief that, during the time of the Pharaohs, animals were merely wrapped in coarse linen bandages and/or dipped in 'resin' after death. Working with colleagues Katherine Clark and Richard Evershed at the University of Bristol, Dr Buckley analysed samples from animal mummies using chemical techniques. The results suggest that the procedures used for animals were as complex as those for humans.
The ancient Egyptians treated animals with great respect, regarding them both as domestic pets and representatives of the gods; for example, the cat symbolised the goddess Bastet; the hawk, Horus, and the ibis Thoth, and so on. This is why their bodies were preserved.
These animals were treated with greater respect after their death than Egyptologists had previously thought
Dr Stephen Buckley
For the investigation, Dr Buckley examined the tissues and wrappings of a mummified cat, two hawks and an ibis. The results show that, as with human mummies, the Egyptians of this period were using animal fats and plant oils as a less costly base on which to apply more exotic ingredients. These exotic, often imported ingredients, include pistacia resin, conifer resin and possibly essential oils such as cedar oil.
"The identification of this range of materials on the animal mummies sampled, are as exotic and complex as those used on human mummies of the same period," said Dr Buckley. "It shows that these animals were treated with greater respect after their death than Egyptologists had previously thought."
Notes to editors:
- Dr Stephen Buckley is a research fellow based in the Bioarchaeology Centre at the University. The Centre is a joint venture between Biology, Chemistry and Archaeology, exploiting the technological resources of the Biology Department with the strengths in Human Palaeoecology and Cultural Archaeology provided in Archaeology. Further information is available at www.york.ac.uk/depts/arch/Research/ArchSci/Bioarch/BioArchWelcome.htm
- This research is published as a letter in the journal Nature 16 September, co-authored by Stephen Buckley, Katherine Clark and Richard Evershed;
- The mummies examined were from the XXIII Egyptian dynasty (818-715 BC) to the XXX Egyptian dynasty (380-343 BC).