Mystery of Ancient Egypt's Mummified Animals: Lion Cubs, Cobras, and Crocodiles Revealed
According to IFL Science, officials also found numerous statues depicting Sekhmet, the lioness goddess, as well as Neith, the goddess of war. In terms of animal statues, the rest consisted of bulls, mongooses, ibis, falcons, and the ancient Egyptian god Anubis in animal form.
Egyptian Ministry of AntiquitiesIt’s largely agreed upon that animals were mummified either as offerings to the gods, or because they were worshipped as gods themselves.
It isn’t just the historical appeal that has officials so enthused about the find. Tourism to Egypt has not been what it once was — with 2010 marking 14 million visitors, but the 2011 revolution against Hosni Mubarak plummeting chances of those figures in the years since then.
Now, with the Grand Egyptian Museum near the Saqqara necropolis set to open in 2020, there simply couldn’t be a more fortuitous time to unearth such a trove of globally appealing relics. They will most likely be on display when the time comes.
Although Egypt has been aggressive and harsh toward anti-government protests and their demonstrators — arresting 4,427 people in September — tourism seems to have risen substantially. In 2018, 11.3 million people visited the country.
Naturally, those eager to boost that figure by three million additional people hope that it’s an inherent love of ancient Egyptian culture, relics, and artifacts that will do the job. For now, there are three large mummified wildcats ready to be analyzed.
After learning about the dozens of mummified animals and statues discovered in Egypt, read about a new study that suggests Ancient Egyptians hunted crocodiles specifically so they could mummify them. Then, learn about the 5,600-year-old mummy that revealed the oldest Egyptian embalming recipe ever found.
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