Why Did Ancient Egyptians Mummify Cats?

Archaeologists in Egypt have uncovered a series of ancient tombs that date back to around 2500BC. But it's what they found inside those tombs that was particularly interesting.

Buried deep within this ancient Egyptian tomb are dozens of mummies. Mummies of cats. Cat mummies. While they aren't the bodies of pharaohs or queens, the discovery of these really, really old creatures is pretty incredible. After all, they've remained hidden away and preserved for more than four thousand years.

You see, mummification was really important to ancient Egyptians because they believed in the afterlife and that you needed your body there.

So, when a rich or important person died, embalmers would treat their body with salt and oils, remove internal organs (except the heart which they thought contained your soul) and, here's the best bit, they'd pull the brain out with a hook straight up the nose. Then the body was wrapped in bandages and placed into a sarcophagus, or coffin, to sit for thousands of years.

That’s because ancient Egyptians believed cats were really important. In fact, they thought they were divine creatures. Might be where they got the attitude.

Several Egyptian gods took the form of a cat, like Bastet. She was thought to protect the home from evil spirits and diseases, so cats became a religious icon as well as pets, and - coming back to that afterlife again - people believed they could take things with them when they died, so cats were often mummified too.

Thousands of cat mummies have been found in Egypt over the years. But, here's the thing - these newly discovered tombs held more than just that.

Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities says, “I would like to call it the necropolis of the sacred animals. Why? Because we found here cats, we found snakes, we found scarabs. Scarab is something really unique.”

And there was a crocodile. All sorts of animals were also considered pretty special, because the gods took many animal forms.

The Egyptian Minister of Antiquities AKA the guy in charge of really, really old stuff says they've also found a door to another new tomb. They're hoping to open it up soon to find out what ancient secrets lie behind it.

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Видео Why Did Ancient Egyptians Mummify Cats? канала Behind the News