Mummy is one of the classic cultural symbols of ancient Egyptian civilization. When it comes to mummies, most people think of human mummies. However, in addition, the ancient Egyptians also made millions of animal mummies-cows, sheep, baboons, lions, cats, dogs, hyenas, fish, bats, owls, crocodiles, shrews, dung beetles, jackals and jackals. There is no doubt that the purpose of mummifying human dead is to preserve the body completely so as to obtain eternal life in the afterlife. In contrast, the specific uses of animal mummies are more diverse, which can be roughly divided into four categories: pet mummies, food mummies, sacred animal mummies, and petition mummies.
Animal Mummies Unearthed from Sakala Cemetery
The crocodile mummy (about 400 BC-AD 100), at the Metropolitan Museum of New York.
Mummy of Fish (664 BC-30 BC), Metropolitan Museum of New York.
As early as the ancient kingdom, pets appeared in the murals of tombs, which showed their close ties with their owners, so they would be buried together after their owners died. Most pets die of natural causes. After death, they were mummified and put into pet coffins. Pets that die before their owners will be buried directly in the tomb, and pets that live longer than their owners will be buried in the front court of the tomb. The only clear case of pet martyrdom comes from the tomb of 1 dynasty in Abedos. It is worth noting that human martyrdom, which is rare in the history of ancient Egypt, has also been discovered here.
As "food", animal mummies are naturally not for the living, but for the owner to enjoy in the afterlife: there are more than 40 food mummies in Tutankhamun's tomb. Most of these mummies have separate coffins, some in rectangular boxes, and some in baskets or other containers. Cattle, sheep, ducks and geese can all be made into food mummies, but the food mummies of fish or pigs have not yet been found. Mammals' ribs, steaks, legs and other body parts can also be mummified. When taking the whole leg, the hoof will be cut off. For birds, the feathers will be removed, and the head, wing tips and claws will be cut off. Most food mummies came from Thebes during the New Kingdom.
The mummy box of snake head animals in the Metropolitan Museum of New York (664- 30 BC).
In ancient Egypt, gods did not exist in the abstract. As the "manifestation" of a god in reality, the sacred beast itself is regarded as a god and is worshipped and treated accordingly, such as the Ebinur bull in Memphis (corresponding to the gods Puta and Osiris), the crocodile in Fayoum (corresponding to the god Sobec) and Ram in Elephant Island (corresponding to the god). After death, these sacred animals will be mummified, put into coffins and buried in specific cemeteries. The ancient Egyptians believed that the soul of a god imprisoned in a sacred animal would be reincarnated to another host after the animal died, so the worship of the sacred animal could continue. Animal worship appeared in prehistoric times, was popular in the New Kingdom period, and reached its peak in the later Egypt and Greece and Rome periods.
Praying for animal mummies is a sacrifice to the corresponding gods, so as to permanently convey the desire to be sacrificed to others. Cat mummies were dedicated to the cat goddess Bast, baboons and owls to Tut, and canines to Anubis. These mummies have special workshops, and petitioners can buy them themselves. Since it involves buying and selling, there are different grades of goods. In addition to the exquisite degree of the mummy itself, you can also buy comic masks, coffins and other accessories as needed, and even bronze coffins with complicated craftsmanship in Ptolemy period. Correspondingly, there are "fake and shoddy" products, such as "hollow" mummies that do not wrap any animal carcasses or "defective" mummies that only wrap animal remains rather than complete corpses. After the purchase, the temple priest is responsible for offering them to the gods and then preserving them. These mummies will be taken out during the festival, participated in the parade, and then buried in the catacombs until the next celebration. Such catacombs have been found in Sakala, arman and other places. However, some scholars (such as Dieter Kessler) believe that these animal mummies may be only animals living and dying in the temple area, not for petitions. In any case, the vast majority of existing animal mummies belong to this category.
The mummy box of lizards in the Metropolitan Museum of New York (664- 30 BC).
So how do you make animal mummies? According to the literature and the study of mummies themselves, five mummification methods can be summarized, some of which are only suitable for mummification of animals. The first is decontamination and drying. After removing the brain and internal organs, clean the body, deodorize it with water and palm wine, and then dry it with soaking alkali. It takes 40 days for human mummies to complete this process, and the time for making animal mummies depends on the size of the animals: for example, it takes at least 52 days for Ebinur. After the body was dried, it was covered with holy oil inside and outside and wrapped in linen. The most exquisite animal mummies made by this method come from 18 and 2 1 dynasties, including monkeys, dogs and antelopes. The second method is dry oil, which consists of roughly washing the intestines, soaking the corpse in alkali, coating it with oil, and sometimes pouring black unknown substances (resin, asphalt, etc.). ) on the body. This method is the most commonly used method to make petition mummies. The third method is enema. The enema method is not to cut open the corpse and take out the internal organs, but to inject pine oil from the anus and then plug it to dissolve the internal organs. The corpse is also soaked in alkali to dry, then the anal suppository is taken out, the liquid in the body is removed, and finally it is coated with oil. The fourth method is hair removal, that is, removing the flesh of the corpse, then coating it with oil and resin, and finally wrapping it. All the animal mummies used in this method are from Greek and Roman times. The last method is soaking method, which is usually suitable for mummification of poultry, that is, directly soaking live birds in boiled resin/asphalt, which is an efficient and economical mummification method.
Cat Mummies (Roman Period), British Museum.
The final presentation forms of animal mummies are also diverse. Some animals have "standardized" postures, such as monkeys squatting. Snake mummies are sometimes coiled or rod-shaped. Cattle mummies adopt the posture of the Sphinx. Mummies of birds are even more diverse: ostriches are sitting, with their heads twisted to the abdomen or close to their backs; Falcons are in a standing position, and some falcon mummies look like standing humans at first glance, and even are mistaken for human babies in early excavations.
In recent years, a large number of animal mummies have been unearthed continuously, and even rare baby lion mummies have been found. Mummification is the expression of the ancient Egyptians' pursuit of eternity. Both human and animal mummies, supplemented by literature research and scientific and technological experiments, will become important material evidence to understand the belief life of ancient Egyptians.
Baboon Mummies (Ptolemaic Period), British Museum.
"Fake" Falcon Mummy (about 400 BC-AD 100), at the Metropolitan Museum of America.
References:
Salima Ekram, "Holy Creatures: Animal Mummies" in Salima Ekram (editor. ), sacred creatures: animal mummies of ancient Egypt (Cairo, new york: Cairo American University Press, 2005), p. 1- 15.
Salima Ekram, "Making Divinity: The Technique of Mummification". ), sacred creatures: animal mummies in ancient Egypt (Cairo, new york: Cairo American University Press, 2005), pp. 16-43.
Proofreading: Zhang Yan