The ancient Egyptians kept many animals as household pets such as cats, dogs, monkeys, gazelles and birds; even they trained hawks and mongooses to hunt with them. However, when the owner died, these animals may also be killed and placed in the tomb of its owner after a natural death to serve him or her. The Egyptian Museum has displayed numerous mummified bodies of pets, which were found in tombs and wrapped in linens. If you have no opportunity to visit Cairo and touch the mummies, let’s see these photos attached explanations to enlarge your knowledge.
A queen\'s pet gazelle was considered as a member of the royal family. It could be killed and wrapped in blue-trimmed bandages and a custom-made wooden coffin to accompany its owner to the grave in about 945 B.C.
Meat mummies on display at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo were prepared as a royal picnic for the afterlife. Ducks, legs of beef, ribs, roasts and even an oxtail for soup were all dried in natron, bound in linen and packed in a reed basket for burial in a queen\'s tomb
Votive mummies, each buried with a prayer, are infinitely varied but not always what they seem. A cunning crocodile is a fake with nothing inside
A coffered linen bundle conceals an ibis
A sacred ram from Elephantine Island covered with gold and paint is one of only seven such mummies that have survived the centuries and now reside in Egyptian museums. It was kept at a temple and cared for by priests until its natural death in the second or third century A.D.
The unusual covering of a votive ibis mummy reproduces the bird\'s long beak and head, with glass beads added for eyes
At Tuna el-Gebel, priests placed a votive animal in each niche. Thousands of such mummies have been found here and many more likely lie in areas yet to be explored
Papyrus and linen trace the contours of a gazelle
A hunting dog whose bandages fell off long ago likely belonged to a pharaoh. When it died, it was interred in a specially prepared tomb in the Valley of the Kings
A baboon was buried with the dog in the above photo
Related links:
Egyptian Museum in Cairo
Day Tour Pyramids , Egyptian Museum
Egyptian Vacations
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Articles Source: Secret of Animal Mummies in Cairo Museum
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