Mummification of Animals

Since ancient Egyptians also believed that you could take almost anything with you, they packed up pets, furniture, jewelry and clothes that might be useful on the other side.(Edwards 20) Pets such as dogs or cats were mummified and buried with their owners when they died so they'd be able to play together in the next life. Many ancient Egyptians had good relations with their pets.

Animal cults were common in Egypt throughout its history. Animal mummies focused on one specific animal in which the spirit of the god would reside and be worshipped as such for the duration of the animal’s lifetime. Upon its death it was mummified, and another one, chosen for its special markings, would take its place.(Melek 50-59)

BASTET:	worshipped as a CAT
HATHOR:	worshipped as a COWS
HORUS:	worshipped as of a HAWK or FALCON
SOBEK: THOTH:	worshipped as of a CROCODILE worshipped as a BABBOON or IBIS
ANUBIS:	worshipped as a DOG, FOX or JACKAL
KHNUM:	worshipped as a RAM
APIS :	worshipped as a BULL

The mummies were prepared by removing the internal organs through the anus, possibly with the help of turpentine or some other oleo-resin which would be injected into the body cavity and plugged up until the viscera had softened and could come out of the orifice. The animal was possibly then packed in natron to dry it out, before being wrapped. There are some other Late Period animal cults with cemeteries of mummified animals such as the Mothers of Buchis and Apis. Each burial concentrates on an individual animal. The numbers of animals the Egyptians mummified are astonishing. Millions of birds were mummified at Saqqara. During periodic celebrations at Bubastis, a city that claimed as its deity the cat-like goddess Bastet, priests daily snapped the necks of hundreds of 4-month-old kittens. At Tuna el-Gebel, baboons and ibises representing the god Thoth were mummified. At Abydos, dogs and jackals were sacrificed for the gods Khentyamentiu and Wepwawet. Because so many animal mummies have been found, archeologists speculate that animals were bred specifically as offerings or were kept in sacred colonies. All of these sacred animals, whether sacrificed or dying naturally, were buried in animal cemeteries. By 300 B.C., more than 130 animal cemeteries existed across Egypt.(103-313)

Mummified crocodiles, sacred to the god Sobek, were also common in Egypt. These were probably cured with natron or even salt and wrapped. They do not show signs of evisceration. Some crocodile burials not only included juvenile and adult crocodiles but their eggs, containing recognizable fetuses, in some instances over 50! Crocodile mummies were often faked with reeds and bones.

The most common and long-lived cults were the Bull cults. There were several such cults in Egypt, but the most important were the Apis Bull at Memphis, the Mnevis Bull at Heliopolis, and the Buchis Bull at Armant.(Mahdy 3-16) It is unclear when the cults started. The bulls were then generally fastened to boards with metal clamps through which bandages were passed to secure the bull to the board, and then wrapped, as the relative position of bandages to board indicates.

The bulls were arranged in the position of a recumbent sphinx, a position not natural to the animals. Cutting the tendons, thus releasing the legs without breaking any bone, did this. The tail was placed under the right hind leg. A wooden chin rest supported the head, and a shroud covered the wrapped animal. The bulls wore masks covered by gold leaf, with artificial eyes inserted.

The Ancient Egyptians kept many animals as household pets, including cats, dogs, monkeys, gazelles, and birds. Pet monkeys and cats are often depicted on the walls of tombs, seated beneath the chair of their owner. These paintings often had magical properties, ensuring that these pets, could join their masters after death.(19-26)