Salima Ikram (ed.)
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9789774248580
- eISBN:
- 9781936190010
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- American University in Cairo Press
- DOI:
- 10.5743/cairo/9789774248580.001.0001
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Middle Eastern Studies
The invention of mummification enabled the ancient Egyptians to preserve the bodies not only of humans but also of animals, so that they could live forever. Mummified animals are of four different ...
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The invention of mummification enabled the ancient Egyptians to preserve the bodies not only of humans but also of animals, so that they could live forever. Mummified animals are of four different types: food offerings, pets, sacred animals, and votive offerings. Here, a series of studies on the different types of animal mummies, the methods of mummification, and the animal cemeteries located at sites throughout Egypt are drawn together in a definitive volume on ancient Egyptian animal mummies. Studies of these animals provide information not only about the fauna of the country, and indirectly, its climate, but also about animal domestication, veterinary practices, human nutrition, mummification technology, and the religious practices of the ancient Egyptians.Less
The invention of mummification enabled the ancient Egyptians to preserve the bodies not only of humans but also of animals, so that they could live forever. Mummified animals are of four different types: food offerings, pets, sacred animals, and votive offerings. Here, a series of studies on the different types of animal mummies, the methods of mummification, and the animal cemeteries located at sites throughout Egypt are drawn together in a definitive volume on ancient Egyptian animal mummies. Studies of these animals provide information not only about the fauna of the country, and indirectly, its climate, but also about animal domestication, veterinary practices, human nutrition, mummification technology, and the religious practices of the ancient Egyptians.
Salima Ikram
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9789774248580
- eISBN:
- 9781936190010
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- American University in Cairo Press
- DOI:
- 10.5743/cairo/9789774248580.003.0001
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Middle Eastern Studies
For most people mummies are synonymous with Egypt. However, it is less well known that the ancient Egyptians mummified animals as well as humans. For the ancient Egyptians, the act of mummification ...
More
For most people mummies are synonymous with Egypt. However, it is less well known that the ancient Egyptians mummified animals as well as humans. For the ancient Egyptians, the act of mummification ensured that the body of a creature would be preserved forever, and thus they conferred the potential for eternal life upon it. Throughout history, however, animal mummies, like their human counterparts, had little value as artifacts. Many animal mummies have survived, and are now valued as sources of information on the culture and environment of ancient Egypt. Broadly speaking, animal mummies can be divided into four different types: beloved pets, buried with their owners; victual mummies, consisting of funerary food offerings for humans; sacred animals, worshiped during their lifetime and mummified with pomp upon their death; and votive mummies, dedicated as offerings at the shrines of specific gods to whom these animals were sacred.Less
For most people mummies are synonymous with Egypt. However, it is less well known that the ancient Egyptians mummified animals as well as humans. For the ancient Egyptians, the act of mummification ensured that the body of a creature would be preserved forever, and thus they conferred the potential for eternal life upon it. Throughout history, however, animal mummies, like their human counterparts, had little value as artifacts. Many animal mummies have survived, and are now valued as sources of information on the culture and environment of ancient Egypt. Broadly speaking, animal mummies can be divided into four different types: beloved pets, buried with their owners; victual mummies, consisting of funerary food offerings for humans; sacred animals, worshiped during their lifetime and mummified with pomp upon their death; and votive mummies, dedicated as offerings at the shrines of specific gods to whom these animals were sacred.
Alain Zivie and Roger Lichtenberg
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9789774248580
- eISBN:
- 9781936190010
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- American University in Cairo Press
- DOI:
- 10.5743/cairo/9789774248580.003.0005
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Middle Eastern Studies
Amongst all the ‘sacred animals’ that were mummified and buried in vast quantities by the ancient Egyptians during the last centuries of their long history, cats held a special place and were ...
More
Amongst all the ‘sacred animals’ that were mummified and buried in vast quantities by the ancient Egyptians during the last centuries of their long history, cats held a special place and were accorded a special respect. However, uninformed people misunderstand the true state of affairs in ancient Egypt with regard to animal worship. They believe that in ancient Egypt all cats were worshiped, mummified, and interred, as were dogs, both the favored animals of the Egyptians par excellence. Moreover, cats were put into a separate category from dogs as they were regarded as “special” and mysterious animals, almost divine, beloved and feared at the same time. But this attitude is a projection of a modern point of view that has its roots in the Middle Ages, and one that is above all occidental and anachronistic.Less
Amongst all the ‘sacred animals’ that were mummified and buried in vast quantities by the ancient Egyptians during the last centuries of their long history, cats held a special place and were accorded a special respect. However, uninformed people misunderstand the true state of affairs in ancient Egypt with regard to animal worship. They believe that in ancient Egypt all cats were worshiped, mummified, and interred, as were dogs, both the favored animals of the Egyptians par excellence. Moreover, cats were put into a separate category from dogs as they were regarded as “special” and mysterious animals, almost divine, beloved and feared at the same time. But this attitude is a projection of a modern point of view that has its roots in the Middle Ages, and one that is above all occidental and anachronistic.
