Bodies of Evidence

Case studies

Animal mummies

What's inside the Egyptian animal mummies?

The Ancient Egyptians' affection for cats is well known but less familiar is their fondness for other animals. Important people kept various household animals, including monkeys, gazelles and birds, and they also trained hawks, mongooses and dogs to hunt with them. These animals were often when they died, and buried with their owners.

The Cairo Museum has the biggest collection of animal mummies in the world. A few were unwrapped some 90 years ago so that archaeologists could investigate them. More recently, though, X-rays have revealed that many of these mummies are not what they seem. Some were empty and are thought to be fakes which could be sold to pilgrims; some, which appeared to be the mummies of children, were found to contain birds of prey.

• Find out more about mummies in the timeline.

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