Egypt
Ancient Egyptians Loved Their Dead Animals
http://www.discover.com/issues/jul-05/rd/ancient-egyptians-loved-dead-animals
Thanks to David Meadows's "Explorator" for the above article on the Discover Magazine website: "As part of an exhibit on mummified animals, Sabin has been analyzing the relatively few specimens that have survived. He found that skeletons of wrapped cats were much larger than those of modern house cats. “It could be that these cats were being bred to be larger to make more impressive and better-selling mummies,” says Sabin. If so, it might even suggest that cats were first domesticated to be sacrificed". See the article for a short discussion of what may have been a thriving market in mummified animals.
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Evolution Of The House Cat
Scientific American (by Carlos A. Driscoll, Juliet Clutton-Brock, Andrew C. Kitchener and Stephen J. O'Brien) It is by turns aloof and affectionate, serene and savage, endearing and exasperating. Despite its mercurial nature, however, the house cat...
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Mummified Puppy Found In Egyptian Tomb
MSNBC (Jennifer Viegas) A small bundle found at the feet of an ancient Egyptian mummy whose tomb was inscribed with the phrase "Hapi-Men" contained the remains of a young dog, according to University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology...
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Hawass Dig Days - Bastet The Cat
Al Ahram Weekly (Zahi Hawass) Tel Basta is an archaeological site in the city of Zagazig, in Sharqiya governorate. It was very important in ancient times because it was sacred to a goddess called Bastet, who took the form of a cat. Beginning in the Old...
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The Cat In Ancient Egypt
Felines in Egypt blog Thanks to Kat Newkirk for forwarding the link to this summary of the role of cats in ancient Egypt. It is written by blog owner Jessica J. Bogg, is accompanied by photographs and contains a list of references at the end. The cat...
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Translation Into Hebrew Of Amarna Letters
http://www.haaretz.co.il/hasite/pages/ShArtPE.jhtml?itemNo=635353 This one is only going to be of interest if you read Hebrew or have a friend to translate. Thanks to David Meadows and his excellent Explorator news email (issue 8.26
[email protected])...
Egypt