Themummificationof kat was a usual practice in ancient Egypt , but it ’s always a pleasant surprise when the felines are found G of years later . AsNPRreports , dozens ofmummified catsand 100 wooden cat statue were recently discovered in a 4500 - class - old tomb near Cairo .
These items were expose by Egyptian archaeologists while excavating a newly discovered grave in Saqqara , whose graveyard serve the ancient city of Memphis . Another nearby tomb remains sealed , and it ’s potential that it may have evaded looters and remained unaffected for millennium .
In addition to the wooden statues , one bronze cat statue was found . It was dedicated toBastet , goddess of cats , who was say to be the girl of Re , god of the Sun . While big cat were revered by ancient Egyptians , they were n’t directly worshipped . Rather , gods like Bastet were often depicted with the physical characteristic of an animal that was think godlike .
Even rarer than the mummified CAT were a brace collecting of mummified scarab beetles that were found in the grave — the first of their kind to be unearth in this exceptional burying ground , Egypt ’s Ministry of Antiquities harbinger in aFacebook mail service . The scarabs were still in “ very good condition ” because they had been wrapped in linen and place inside two limestone sarcophagus , whose hat had black scarabs painted on top .
" The ( dry up ) scarab is something really unique . It is something really a bite rarefied , " Mostafa Waziri , secretary general of Egypt ’s Supreme Council of Antiquities , told Reuters and other metier . " A couple of day ago , when we discovered those casket , they were sealed coffin with drawings of scarab . I never heard about them before . "
The mallet were an important religious symbol in ancient Egypt , representingrenewal and spiritual rebirth . The Ministry of Antiquities said archaeologists also find wooden statue of a lion , a moo-cow , and a falcon , as well as painted wooden sarcophagi of cobras ( with mamma indoors ) and wooden sarcophagus of crocodiles .
[ h / tNPR ]
