![]() This can lead to interpretative uncertainty and bone measurement errors. This is especially problematic for animal mummies because the limbs tend to be folded inwards for wrapping and mummification. Consequently, it can be difficult to determine the exact three-dimensional position and orientation of the contents of mummies due to flattening and foreshortening. While conventional (2D) radiographic image capture and analysis requires less commitment in terms of time and computational power, the image is a projection through the entire contents of the mummy. Such methods are not unproblematic, however. These include studying the wrappings through simple observation and polarised light microscopy, together with literature from ancient texts 6. However, these techniques destroy or disturb the mummy to some extent consequently, non-invasive procedures have been increasingly favoured. These techniques can provide information on wrapping techniques 9, while chemical analyses can be used to reveal information about the mummification processes 10. Intrusive techniques usually involve unwrapping the mummy, revealing the bones and other artefacts that are placed inside. Since at least the 1800s, animal mummies have been studied using intrusive or non-intrusive techniques. Temple priests killed and embalmed the animals so they were made suitable as offerings to the gods 6, 8. Dedicated keepers were employed to breed the animals, while other animals were imported or gathered from the wild. The animal mummification ‘industry’ required high production volumes, necessitating significant infrastructure, resources, and staffing of farms that reared animals for mummification and subsequent sale 7. Egyptologists have also suggested that the mummified votive animals were meant to act as messengers between people on earth and the gods 1, 6. Mummified animals were purchased by visitors to temples, who, it has been suggested, would offer them to the gods, in a similar way that candles may be offered in churches today. Gods could also be symbolised as animals, such as the goddess Bastet, who could be depicted as a cat or other feline, or a human with feline head and the god Horus who was often depicted as a hawk or falcon 1, 4, 5. Votive offerings were given to gods, with particular animals associated with specific deities. Their production began in earnest in the Late Period (672-332 BC) and continued into the Roman Period, at least through to the fourth century AD, when they number in the millions 3. Votive offerings are by far the most common animal mummies. Ikram 1, 2 has suggested that mummified animal remains can be divided into six categories: other. ![]() In addition to humans, animals were mummified, including cats, ibis, hawks, snakes, crocodiles and dogs. Human mummification is known throughout the Pharaonic period. Improved understanding of animal mummification through scientific imaging can thus inform conservation and understanding of past human-animal relationships.Īncient Egyptians mummified their human dead to ensure their rebirth in the afterlife. ![]() It was also possible to identify a bird mummy to species level from the X-ray data. Examination of a cat mummy revealed it was less than five months old and had its neck purposefully broken. Potential evidence for an ‘opening of the mouth’ procedure was found in a snake, along with indicators of the poor conditions in which the snake was kept when alive, leading to dehydration. Thousands of years after the production of these mummified animals, the X-ray microCT technique facilitates new investigations, revealing ‘harder’ skeletal structures, mummification materials, and even desiccated soft tissues. Revealing the internal structures provides insights into their biography, the conditions in which they were kept, complex mummification practices, possible causes of death, and subsequent handling damage. In this study, we use microCT to image three different animal mummies. Laboratory-based X-ray microcomputed tomography (microCT) and focussed imaging protocols permit smaller mummified remains, such as animals, to be studied at higher resolution. Developments in non-invasive imaging have enabled detailed study of their internal structures. ![]() The clues to life and death of mummified animals can remain hidden beneath their wrappings.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |