12. 5. 2015 Millions of dog mummies

In ancient Egypt, dogs had an important role. They were intermediaries who were supposed to intercede with the god Anubis on behalf of their masters and secure benefits in the afterlife. It was in the catacombs of Anubis that archaeologists discovered millions of mummies of dead animals.

The catacombs are located near Saqqara. Archaeologists have found eight million buried animals, most of them dogs. Most were embalmed and mummified. The remains belonged to adult dogs, but also puppies.

Then on the ceiling are fossils of ancient sea monsters. Some of the vertebrates are over 48 million years old. It's not clear whether the ancient Egyptians even noticed the fossils when they built the tomb for the dog mummies.

"We were delighted and surprised by the find. We didn't expect there to be so many animals, it opens up many questions," said Paul Nicholson of Cardiff University, who led the project and has been researching animal cults since the 1990s.

Certainly not all the mummies have survived. Some were destroyed by tomb robbers or industrialists who probably used them as fertiliser. Still, archaeologists have found enough evidence to suggest that the animal cult of Anubis was an integral part of life in ancient Egypt.

Archaeologists have also found catacombs with the mummified remains of other animals, such as the ibis bird with its typically long legs. Then there's the hawk, the baboon and the bull, suggesting that the ancient Egyptians worshipped other animal gods.

"When you come to Saqqara, you will see an area with beautiful desert, towering pyramids and one or two important monuments associated with animal cults," Nicholson noted. But this was not always the case. "If you had come to the same area between 747 and 332 BC, you would have seen temples, traders sellingselling bronze statues of deities, priests performing ceremonies, people offering dream interpretation and tourist guides. It was a really busy name," Nicholson added.

Animal slaughter in Ancient Egypt is said to have been more than simple animal sacrifices. It was a religious act. "The Egyptians wanted to secure the favor of the god of burial, Anubis, who was depicted with the head of a dog or a jackal. His role was to escort the dead to the ruler of the dead, Osiris, and to weigh the hearts of the dead. By burying the animal, the Egyptians hoped to capture the aid of a recently deceased relative and that Anubis would take care of them," Nicholson explained.

Sources: www.livescience.com, https://egyptianstreets.com/, www.ct24.cz