Body of Evidence

 

Photograph courtesy P.T. Nicholson

Mummified dogs such as this aren't the only animals filling the Dog Catacombs.

"There are also some jackals, foxes, and, ichneumon [Egyptian mongooses]," said Cardiff's University's Nicholson. "But the overwhelming majority of animals here are dogs, so we believe this place was intended just for the cult of Anubis."

Elsewhere in Saqqara's so-called Sacred Animal Necropolis, there were many other cults—and many other mummified animals, including baboons, cows, bulls, and so on, said Nicholson, whose work was partly funded by the National Geographic Society's Committee for Research and Exploration. (The Society owns National Geographic News.)

(See pictures: Egypt’s Animal Mummies.)

Published April 6, 2011

DIRECCION: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2011/04/pictures/110406-egypt-puppy-mummies-animals-dogs-science-catacomb-mummifie