“The vaults at Saqqara had been opened, and there had been found in a sepulchral chamber more than f

“The vaults at Saqqara had been opened, and there had been found in a sepulchral chamber more than five hundred mummies of the ibis. I was presented with two, and could not refrain from opening one… I have given a drawing of every development, and a complete explanation of the whole.”The above is an account of the sacred Ibis bird catacombs at Saqqara and was written by the Vivant Denon, one of the artists that accompanied Napoleon on his expedition to Egypt in 1798. Denon’s drawings of the Ibis mummies were included in the Description de l'Égypte, ou, Recueil des observations et des recherches qui ont été faites en Égypte pendant l'expédition de l'armée française, a massive 26 volume record of ancient Egyptian artifacts and archaeological sites compiled by Napoleon’s army of artists and savants. The Description contains some of the earliest images of these sacred animal mummies in the West.Even earlier images of the Ibis catacombs were recorded by Richard Pococke an English clergyman and anthropologist in his A Description of the East, and some other countries printed in 1743. Pococke created delicate and detailed drawings of the “magnificent sepulchers” as he found them along with plans of the visible area of the catacombs.These sites with their multitude of mummified remains were likely connected to animal cults, with the mummies serving as votive offerings. The Ibis is particularly associated with the god Thoth. The area around Northern Saqqara also has caches of cat mummies (associated with the god Bastet), dogs, jackals (Anubis), baboons (Thoth), hawks, bulls, and cows.The massive labyrinth of tunnels under the Egyptian desert continues to be excavated—most recently by archaeologists at Cardiff University who’ve uncovered millions of mummified dogs and puppies.Posted by Roberta Munoz -- source link

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