Dr Salima Ikram Talks Animal Mummification In New Heritage Key Video

Professor of Egyptology at the American University in Cairo Dr Salima Ikram – one of the world’s leading authorities on Egyptian religion – recently chatted to Heritage Key on the subject of the cult of animal worship in ancient Egypt. In another exclusive new video interview, she dons her white coat and takes us to the lab, for a fascinating insight into the practice of animal mummification.

Animals were deeply sacred in ancient Egypt, particularly from the 26th dynasty – around 700 BC – until the end of Egyptian civilization and the advent of Christianity by 400 AD. They were believed to be the living embodiment of gods, so preserving their corpses after death became a matter of the utmost importance. As Dr Ikram explains, Egyptian embalmers would go to painstaking and expensive lengths to mummify everything, from ibis to cows, mice and fish. Cats had particularly high status in Egyptian society, while mummified dogs have been found by the thousands. Even lowly scarab beetles were carefully preserved.

With all the care and attention given to a deceased human, the animal's internal organs would be removed and natron – a naturally occurring combination of salt and baking soda, found in the Wadi El Natrun – applied to suck all the moisture from the corpse and to deodorize and disinfect it (as much as that was possible). It would then be oiled and wrapped in linen bandages, probably while priests conducted prayer ceremonies.

Dr Ikram – author of books such as Divine Creatures: Animal Mummies in Ancient Egypt and the Non-Human Mummies Catalogue – points out that very little was written or documented by the ancient Egyptians about this process, so the only way she's been able to come to understand it is through experimental archaeology on the corpses of newly deceased creatures.

In one of the weirder moments we’ve witnessed in a Heritage Key video interview, Dr Ikram (bunny lovers look away now) wields some mummified rabbits, while doing a fine job of keeping a straight face, even when describing a small lab mishap. “The control rabbit actually blew up,” she reveals. “Then it started to dry out, but it didn’t look very nice.”

Bad luck befell her mummified Nile perch too. “I had it on my balcony after it had been wrapped and prepared,” Ikram reveals, “and unfortunately a raptor of some sort – a hawk or an eagle – came down and took it and ate it.” As excuses for losing your homework go, that’s one of the better ones we’ve heard.

MOVIE: How Animal Mummies were made, explained by Dr. Salima Ikram

Click here to view the transcript of this video.

For more great ancient world video interviews, including a chat with Zahi Hawass on new finds in the Valley of the Kings, check out Heritage Key’s Youtube channel.

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About The Author

Malcolm Jack

Malcolm Jack is a freelance arts and entertainment journalist based in Glasgow, Scotland. He graduated from the University of Edinburgh in 2004 with an MA Honours Degree in History.

Last three pieces by this author: Ancient World in London Bloggers Challenge 3: Should the British Museum Return the Rosetta Stone to Egypt?, Ancient World in London Bloggers Challenge 2: Winner Announced!, Seeing King Tut: Tutankhamun Virtual Experienes, Sites, Artefacts and Exhibitions Around the World

Interesting Articles And Blog Posts

Animals and Religion in Egypt

The ancient Egyptians had a complex view of animals, associating their abilities and traits with various gods and goddesses.

The Lives and Deaths of Cats in Egypt

Cats have always had an knack for getting their own way. In ancient Egypt, they managed to climb the social ladder from hunter to pet to deity, and were so loved by their masters that killing a cat was punishable by death.

Interesting Publications

Egyptian Household Animals

Shire Publications (11 Aug 1999)

by Rosalind Janssen, Jack Janssen

The Cat in Ancient Egypt

British Museum Press (19 Jun 2006)

by Jaromir Malek

Life and Death in Ancient Egypt: Scenes from Private Tombs in New Kingdom Thebes

Cornell University Press (30 Mar 2000)

by Sigrid Hodel-Hoenes, David Warburton

The Encyclopedia of Mummies

The History Press (24 Jun 2004)

by Bob Brier