Animal Mummies

Animals Everlasting
Wrapped in linen and reverently laid to rest, animal mummies hold intriguing clues to life and death in ancient Egypt.
By A. R. Williams Photograph by Richard Barnes

In 1888 an Egyptian farmer digging in the sand near the village of Istabl Antar uncovered a mass grave. The bodies eren!t human. They ere feline"ancient cats that had been mummified and buried in pits in staggering numbers. #$ot one or t o here and there,# reported the English Illustrated Magazine, #but do%ens, hundreds, hundreds of thousands, a layer of them, a stratum thic&er than most coal seams, ten to t enty cats deep.# 'ome of the linen( rapped cats still loo&ed presentable, and a fe even had gilded faces. )illage children peddled the best specimens to tourists for change* the rest ere sold in bul& as fertili%er. +ne ship hauled about 18,,,,,, eighing some -8,,,, pounds, to .iverpool to be spread on the fields of England. Those ere the days of generously funded e/peditions that dredged through acres of desert in their 0uest for royal tombs and for splendid gold and painted mas&s and coffins to adorn the estates and museums of Europe and America. The many thousands of mummified animals that turned up at sacred sites throughout Egypt ere 1ust things to

be cleared a ay to get at the good stuff. 2e people studied them, and their importance as generally unrecogni%ed. In the century since then, archaeology has become less of a trophy hunt and more of a science. E/cavators no reali%e that much of their sites! ealth lies in the multitude of details about ordinary fol&s" hat they did, hat they thought, ho they prayed. Animal mummies are a big part of that pay dirt. #They!re really manifestations of daily life,# says Egyptologist 'alima I&ram. #3ets, food, death, religion. They cover everything the Egyptians ere concerned ith.# 'peciali%ing in %ooarchaeology"the study of ancient animal remains"I&ram has helped launch a ne line of research into the cats and other creatures that ere preserved ith great s&ill and care. As a professor at the American 4niversity in 5airo, she adopted the Egyptian Museum!s languishing collection of animal mummies as a research pro1ect. After ta&ing precise measurements, peering beneath linen bandages ith /(rays, and cataloging her findings, she created a gallery for the collection"a bridge bet een people today and those of long ago. #6ou loo& at these animals, and suddenly you say, +h, 7ing 'o(and('o had a pet. I have a pet. And instead of being at a distance of 8,,,,(plus years, the ancient Egyptians become people.# Today the animal mummies are one of the most popular e/hibits in the hole treasure( filled museum. )isitors of all ages, Egyptians and foreigners, press in shoulder to shoulder to get a loo&. 9ehind glass panels lie cats rapped in strips of linen that form diamonds, stripes, s0uares, and crisscrosses. 'hre s in bo/es of carved limestone. :ams covered ith gilded and beaded casings. A ga%elle rapped in a tattered mat of papyrus, so thoroughly flattened by mummification that I&ram named it :oad&ill. A 1;(foot, &nobby(bac&ed crocodile, buried ith baby croc mummies in its mouth. Ibises in bundles ith intricate appli0u<s. =a &s. 2ish. Even tiny scarab beetles and the dung balls they ate. 'ome ere preserved so that the deceased ould have companionship in eternity. Ancient Egyptians ho could afford it prepared their tombs lavishly, hoping that their assembled personal items, and everything sho n in specially commissioned or&s of art, ould magically be available to them after death. 9eginning in about >?8, 9.5., &ings of the 1st dynasty ere buried at Abydos ith dogs, lions, and don&eys in their funerary comple/es. More than >,8,, years later, during the -,th dynasty, a commoner at Abydos named =api(men as laid to rest ith his small dog curled at his feet.

+ther mummies ere provisions for the dead. The best cuts of beef, succulent duc&s, geese, and pigeons ere salted, dried, and rapped in linen. #)ictual mummies# is hat I&ram calls this gourmet 1er&y for the hereafter. #Whether or not you got it regularly in life didn!t matter because you got it for eternity.# And some animals ere mummified because they ere the living representatives of a god. The venerable city of Memphis, the capital for much of Egypt!s ancient history, covered >, s0uare miles at its largest in about -,, 9.5., ith a population of some >8,,,,,. Today most of its crumbled glory lies under the village of Mit :ahina and the surrounding fields. 9ut along a dusty lane, the ruins of a temple stand half hidden amid tufts of grass. This as the embalming house of the Apis bull, one of the most revered animals in all of ancient Egypt. A symbol of strength and virility, the Apis as closely lin&ed to the all(po erful &ing. =e as part animal, part god and as chosen for veneration because of his unusual set of mar&ings@ a hite triangle on his forehead, hite inged patterns on his shoulders and rump, a scarab silhouette on his tongue, and double hairs at the end of his tail. Auring his lifetime he as &ept in a special sanctuary, pampered by priests, adorned ith gold and 1e els, and orshipped by the multitudes. When he died, his divine essence as believed to move on to another bull, and so a search for the ne one began. Mean hile, the body of the deceased as transported to the temple and laid on a bed of finely carved travertine. Mummification too& at least ;, days"B, to dry the enormous repository of flesh, and -, to rap it. +n the bull!s burial day, city residents surged into the streets to observe this occasion of national mourning. Wailing and tearing at their hair, they cro ded the route to the catacomb no &no n as the 'erapeum in the desert necropolis of 'a00ara. In procession, priests, temple singers, and e/alted officials delivered the mummy to the net or& of vaulted galleries carved into the bedroc& of limestone. There, among the long corridors of previous burials, they interred the mummy in a massive ooden or granite sarcophagus. In later centuries, though, the sanctity of this place as violated as thieves pried off the sarcophagus lids and ransac&ed the mummies to find their precious ornaments. 'adly, not a single burial of the Apis bull has survived intact. Aifferent sacred animals ere orshipped at their o n cult centers"bulls at Armant and =eliopolis, fish at Esna, rams at Elephantine Island, crocodiles at 7om +mbo. I&ram believes the idea of such divine creatures as born at the da n of Egyptian civili%ation, a

time hen heavier rainfall than today made the land green and bountiful. 'urrounded by animals, people began to connect them ith specific gods according to their habits. Ta&e crocodiles. They instinctively laid their eggs above the impending high( ater line of the $ile!s annual flood, the pivotal event that atered and enriched fields and allo ed Egypt to be born again year after year. #5rocodiles ere magical,# I&ram says, #because they had that ability to foretell.# The ne s of a good flood, or a bad one, as important to a land of farmers. And so, in time, crocodiles became symbols of 'obe&, a ater god of fertility, and a temple arose at 7om +mbo, one of the places in southern Egypt here the s elling flood as first observed every year. In that sacred space, near the riverban& here ild crocodiles lay sunning themselves, captive crocodiles led an indulged life and ere buried ith due ceremony after death. T=E M+'T $4ME:+4' mummies, buried by the millions as at Istabl Antar, ere votive ob1ects offered up during yearly festivals at the temples of animal cults. .i&e county fairs, these great gatherings enlivened religious centers up and do n the $ile. 3ilgrims arrived by the hundreds of thousands and set up camp. Music and dancing filled the processional route. Merchants sold food, drin&, and souvenirs. 3riests became salesmen, offering simply rapped mummies as ell as more elaborate ones for people ho could spend more"or thought they should. With incense s irling all around, the faithful ended their 1ourney by delivering their chosen mummy to the temple ith a prayer. 'ome places ere associated ith 1ust one god and its symbolic animal, but old, venerated sites such as Abydos have yielded hole menageries of votive mummies, each species a lin& to a particular god. At Abydos, the burial ground of Egypt!s first rulers, e/cavations have uncovered ibis mummies li&ely representing Thoth, the god of isdom and riting. 2alcons probably evo&ed the s&y(god =orus, protector of the living &ing. And dogs had ties to the 1ac&al(headed Anubis, the guardian of the dead. 9y donating one of these mummies to the temple, a pilgrim could in favor ith its god. #The creature as al ays hispering in the god!s ear, saying, !=ere he is, here comes your devotee, be nice,!# e/plains I&ram. 9eginning in the >Cth dynasty, in about CCB 9.5., votive mummies became ildly popular. The country had 1ust ousted its foreign rulers, and Egyptians ere relieved to return to their o n traditions. The mummy business boomed, employing legions of

speciali%ed or&ers. Animals had to be bred, cared for, dispatched, and mummified. :esins had to be imported, rappings prepared, tombs dug. Aespite the lofty purpose of the product, corruption crept into the assembly line, and the occasional pilgrim ended up ith something dodgy. #A fa&ery, a 1iggery(po&ery,# I&ram says. =er /(rays have revealed a variety of ancient consumer rip(offs@ a cheaper animal substituted for a rarer, more e/pensive one* bones or feathers in place of a hole animal* beautiful rappings around nothing but mud. The more attractive the pac&age, I&ram has discovered, the greater the chance of a scam. To find out ho the ancient embalmers or&ed"a sub1ect on hich the ancient te/ts are silent or ambiguous"I&ram conducts e/periments in mummification. 2or supplies she visits the labyrinth of 5airo!s 1Bth(century su0. At a small shop 1ust a bloc& from the busy souvenir stands, a cler& uses an old brass balance scale to eigh out &ilos of gray crystalline chun&s. This is natron, a salt that absorbs moisture and fat and as the &ey drying agent used in mummification. It!s still mined 1ust south est of the $ile Aelta and is usually sold as a ashing soda. At the herbalist around the corner, I&ram finds oils that ill ma&e dry, stiff bodies fle/ible again and resinous lumps of fran&incense that ill seal bandages hen melted. $o one sells the palm ine that ancient embalmers used to ash out internal cavities after evisceration, so I&ram substitutes locally made gin. =er mummifications began ith rabbits. They!re a manageable si%e, and she could get them at the butcher. #Instead of ma&ing them ste bunnies, I gave them life for eternity,# she says. 2lopsy"I&ram names all her mummies" as buried hole in natron. The body didn!t last t o days. Dases built up, and it e/ploded. Thumper had better luc&. =is lungs, liver, stomach, and intestines ere snipped out. =e as then stuffed ith natron and buried in more of the same. =e survived. 2luffy, the ne/t candidate, helped e/plain an archaeological pu%%le. The natron pac&ed inside her absorbed so much fluid that it became goopy, smelly, and disgusting. I&ram dug out the mess and replaced it ith fresh natron tied in linen bags. These ere simple to remove once they got soggy, e/plaining hy similar bundles turn up in many embalming caches. 3eter 5ottontail!s treatment as entirely different. Instead of evisceration, he got a turpentine and cedar(oil enema before being placed in natron. =erodotus, the famed Dree& historian, rote about the procedure in the fifth century 9.5., but scholars debate

his reliability. In this case, the e/periment proved him right. All 3eter!s innards dissolved e/cept the heart"the one organ ancient Egyptians al ays left in place. .i&e the animals mummified more than -,,,, years ago, I&ram!s ent to a happy afterlife. +nce the lab or& as done, she and her students follo ed protocol and rapped each body in bandages printed ith magical spells. :eciting prayers and burning incense, they laid the mummies to rest in a classroom cabinet, here they dra visitors"including me. As an offering, I s&etch plump carrots and symbols to multiply the bunch by a thousand. I&ram assures me that the pictures have instantly become real in the hereafter, and her rabbits are t itching their noses ith 1oy.
A. R. Williams is a senior writer for the magazine. Richard Barnes's recent book, Animal Logic, offers a behind-the-scenes look at natural history museums.