Egypt
LiveScience (Wynne Parry)
Daily Mail (Fiona MacRae)
With some good photos.
- Unveiling Animal Mummies
The Scientist (Cristina Luiggi) With video. Stuffed into the sand-buffeted ancient ruins scattered about the Nile Delta are tens of millions of mummified animals. Birds, cats, dogs, crocodiles, snakes—nearly all manner of creature that lived during...
- Egyptian Bones Could Help Solve Canine Conundrum
Spiegel Online () With photos. Scientists are still trying to explain how the gray wolf could evolve into over 400 breeds of dogs, ranging from the pug to the pinscher. One aid in solving this riddle has been found in an unlikely place: a giant animal...
- 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...
- Doggy Mummies
The good folks at National Geographic have finally added some images of the catacombs that some say contain millions of dog mummies dedicated to the god Anubis. The pictures certainly demonstrate why the catacombs probably interested Jacques De Morgan...
- The Dog Catacombs
This article has a picture though that is rather pathetic, the article is a brief overview of catacombs containing millions(?) of dog mummies. The catacombs were mentioned in 1897 by the famous french archaeologist Jacques De Morgan who included the catacombs...
Egypt
Millions of canine mummies revealed at Saqqara
LiveScience (Wynne Parry)
The excavation of a labyrinth of tunnels beneath the Egyptian desert has revealed the remains of millions of animals, mostly dogs and jackals. Many appear to have been only hours or days old when they were killed and mummified.
The Dog Catacombs, as they are known, date to 747-730 B.C., and are dedicated to the Anubis, the Egyptians' jackal-headed god of the dead. They were first documented in the 19th century; however, they were never fully excavated. A team, led by Paul Nicholson, an archaeologist at Cardiff University in the United Kingdom, is now examining the tunnels and their contents, they announced this week. [Image of mummified puppy remains]
They estimate the catacombs contain the remains of 8 million animals. Given the sheer numbers of animals, it is likely they were bred by the thousands in puppy farms around the ancient Egyptian capital of Memphis, according to the researchers. The Dog Catacombs are located at Saqqara, the burial ground for the ancient capital Memphis.
Daily Mail (Fiona MacRae)
With some good photos.
A labyrinth of sacred tunnels packed with the mummified remains of millions of dogs has been excavated under the Egyptian desert.
The catacombs are estimated to contain the remains up to eight million dogs, many of which would have been offered to the gods when they were just hours old.
Others would have been treated as living representatives of the dog or jackal-headed god Anubis and would have lived out their lives in the nearby temple before being preserved and laid to rest in the network of tunnels.
The fascinating details come from Cardiff University scientists, who along with Egyptian colleagues are the first to examine the structure and contents of the complex underground network built 2,500 years ago under the Saqqara desert.
The catacomb, which lies ten to 12metres underground, consists of a long central corridor and a series of smaller passages that branch off it.
Sampling of small areas and bone examination of their contents suggest that the entire network is home to eight million dogs, as well as a handful of cats and jackals.
- Unveiling Animal Mummies
The Scientist (Cristina Luiggi) With video. Stuffed into the sand-buffeted ancient ruins scattered about the Nile Delta are tens of millions of mummified animals. Birds, cats, dogs, crocodiles, snakes—nearly all manner of creature that lived during...
- Egyptian Bones Could Help Solve Canine Conundrum
Spiegel Online () With photos. Scientists are still trying to explain how the gray wolf could evolve into over 400 breeds of dogs, ranging from the pug to the pinscher. One aid in solving this riddle has been found in an unlikely place: a giant animal...
- 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...
- Doggy Mummies
The good folks at National Geographic have finally added some images of the catacombs that some say contain millions of dog mummies dedicated to the god Anubis. The pictures certainly demonstrate why the catacombs probably interested Jacques De Morgan...
- The Dog Catacombs
This article has a picture though that is rather pathetic, the article is a brief overview of catacombs containing millions(?) of dog mummies. The catacombs were mentioned in 1897 by the famous french archaeologist Jacques De Morgan who included the catacombs...