Archaeologists have discovered nearly eight million canine mummies -- from hours-old puppies to adult dogs -- in the dark, spectacular catacombs next to a temple of Anubis, the jackal-headed god of death, Live Science reports.
While animal cults are a widely recognized feature of ancient Egypt, not a whole lot is known about the nature of the catacombs and mummies associated with temples dedicated to animal gods. A new study, published in
Antiquity this month, chronicles the catacombs of Anubis at North Saqqara: from their heyday during the Late Period (664 to 332 B.C.E.) to their exploitation for raw materials during modern times, where mummies may have been used as fertilizer.

The temple is in the country's ancient capital of Memphis. "When you go to Saqqara now, you see an area of attractive desert with the pyramids sticking up and one or two of the prominent monuments" associated with animal cults, Cardiff University’s Paul Nicholson tells Live Science. But during the Late Period, "it would have been a busy place... a permanent community of people living there supported by the animal cults." These would have included priests, merchants, and tour guides, as well as people breeding animals that will later be mummified as expressions of gratitude for the gods.

The canine catacombs were first documented in 1897, but it wasn’t until 2011 that Nicholson and colleagues began conducting a full excavation of its long series of dark tunnels. The center passageway stretched for 173 meters (568 feet), with the corridors branching from it reaching a width of up to 140 meters (459 feet). These catacombs were constructed from Lower Eocene stones dating back some 50 million years, and the catacombs themselves were built in the fourth century B.C.E, In fact, the ceiling even contained the 48-million-year-old fossil of an extinct marine vertebrate -- likely the relative of today’s manatees.

Many of the mummies have disintegrated over the centuries, and other were disrupted by graverobbers and quarrymen. Still, it was clear that this animal cult was a big part of the economy. Some of the older dogs that had more elaborate burials may have lived at the temple. But many of the dogs were just days, even hours, old when they were mummified: They were likely separated from their mothers and died from dehydration or starvation. "They probably weren't killed by physical action,”
Nicholson says. “We don't have evidence of broken necks that you get with cat burials."

While 92% of the mummified remains belonged to dogs, the team also found jackals, foxes, falcons, cats, and mongooses. They’re not sure why these other animals were there: Maybe the dog-looking animals were interchangeable, and there might be a mythological rationale behind the cats and birds.


www.iflscience.com/plants-and-animals/millions-dog-mummies-discovered-catacombs-anubis

Anubis is one of my favourite Egyptian god, his looks and swaggs is just right. . .

johnydon22:
Anubis is one of my favourite Egyptian god, his looks and swaggs is just right. . .

lol, swag?

khalhokage:


lol, swag?

Yeap Anubis gat swagger, Osiris basically is the boss man but i just like Anubis looks. . . Horus is a wacked up kiddo

johnydon22:
Yeap Anubis gat swagger, Osiris basically is the boss man but i just like Anubis looks. . . Horus is a wacked up kiddo

Hahahaha, this guy sef, make Horus catch you 1st.

khalhokage:

Hahahaha, this guy sef, make Horus catch you 1st.

Hahahahahaha

khalhokage:


Hahahaha, this guy sef, make Horus catch you 1st.

haha look at you.... Calling osiris and anubis a boss where amon-ra the bull lies anubis is nt even up 2 osiris, he is simply a minor god (of afterlife judgement) like hept and anukis

johnydon22:
Yeap Anubis gat swagger, Osiris basically is the boss man but i just like Anubis looks. . . Horus is a wacked up kiddo

haha look at you.... Calling osiris and anubis a boss where amon-ra the bull lies anubis is nt even up 2 osiris, he is simply a minor god (of afterlife judgement) like hept and anukis

Angelou:
haha look at you.... Calling osiris and anubis a boss where amon-ra the bull lies anubis is nt even up 2 osiris, he is simply a minor god (of afterlife judgement) like hept and anukis

I never referred to Anubis as the boss, i only said he gat swagger. .personal preference

Osiris is a boss man but yea you are right Amon-ra gat weight too. . i'd really love for us to discuss egyptian mythology often. I love that shiit seriously

johnydon22:


I never referred to Anubis as the boss, i only said he gat swagger. .personal preference

Osiris is a boss man but yea you are right Amon-ra gat weight too. . i'd really love for us to discuss egyptian mythology often. I love that shiit seriously

bring it on

Angelou:
bring it on

Have you read about the god Aken?

johnydon22:


Have you read about the god Aken?

aken?! Isn't dat d god who pharaoh thotmes tried to replace amon-ra with as his personal god

Angelou:
aken?! Isn't dat d god who pharaoh thotmes tried to replace amon-ra with as his personal god

oh sorry my bad, I meant to write Aten. . . The pharaoh Amenhotep iv pushed it to the hight of the universal god and established a monotheist system in egypt

johnydon22:


oh sorry my bad, I meant to write Aten. . . The pharaoh Amenhotep iv pushed it to the hight of the universal god and established a monotheist system in egypt

but d egyptian priests were fiercely in dispute with that

Angelou:
but d egyptian priests were fiercely in dispute with that

He was the pharaoh, they couldnt do anything about until his successor came in