Dog Mummies

When dog mummies were not buried with their owners, they were meant as a gift for the god Anubis, who, according to the Animal Mummy Project, was worshipped as a dog, fox, or jackal.

Herodotus, an ancient Greek who visited Egypt, explains the embalming process this way:

[The embalmers] take first a crooked piece of iron, and with it draw out the brain through the nostrils; ... next they make a cut along the flank ... and take out the whole contents of the abdomen. ... After this they fill the cavity with the purest bruised myrrh, with cassia, and every other sort of spicery except frankincense, and sew up the opening. Then the body is placed in natrum [mineral salt] for seventy days, and covered entirely over. After the expiration of that space of time, ... the body is washed, and wrapped round, from head to foot, with bandages of fine linen cloth, smeared with gum [melted frankincense], ... and in this state given back to the relations.

Herodotus is here explaining the embalming process for humans, but some animal mummies show the same kind of care. Wrappings, for example, recreate the eyes, nose, and mouth or contain elaborate patterns made by overlapping bandages of different colors and widths.

Animals associated with a specific god were probably raised for slaughter and subsequent mummification. Pets, on the other hand, might have had life better. According to the Animal Mummy Project, "It is perhaps more likely that a pet was placed in the tomb of its owner after a natural death. The X-rays of these pet mummies may help clarify this issue by providing evidence as to the manner of death."

To further the study of animal mummies, visit the Animal Mummy Project for details. Your donation helps preserve these often overlooked artifacts from ancient Egypt.

For information about the Egyptian afterlife and the extensive preparation for it, visit the Australian Museum Online's excellent offering: Life Beyond the Tomb: Death in Ancient Egypt.