Reference no: EM133637402

Animal Mummies

You have probably heard the expression, "You can't take it with you." Ancient Egyptians would have said the exact opposite. They believed that the afterlife was an extension of this life and when people died, they could take just about everything with them. So the pharaohs and other opulent Egyptians were buried with treasure, food, and even chariots they could ride in the afterlife. Many of these ancient Egyptians were also buried with animals, some of them pets-cats, dogs, monkeys, birds, and so on. Like the bodies of their owners, the remains of these household pets were mummified to serve them for the afterlife. In fact, archaeologists have uncovered thousands and thousands of animal mummies from the times of the great Egyptian dynasties-roughly 4,000 B.C. to 3,000 B.C. Interestingly, most of these animal mummies were not pets. Some animals such as ducks were buried as food for the pharaohs to eat on their way to the next world. For instance, the tomb of Tutankhamen, otherwise known as King Tut, contained lots of duck-shaped and egg-shaped wooden boxes holding various birds and cuts of meat. Other animals were sacrificed in religious rituals as offerings to the many Egyptian