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A rare discovery of mummified big cats, cobras, and crocodiles has been unveiled by Egyptian authorities.
Egyptologists are thrilled at the cache, which includes dozens of mummified cats, 75 wooden and bronze cat statues, mummified birds, and an enormous mummified beetle three to four times the normal size.
Egyptian officials hoped that the announcement would help to boost the country’s image abroad and encourage more tourists to return. “It’s a wonderful promotion for Egypt,” said Khaled El-Enany, Egypt’s antiquities minister.
Of five large mummified wildcats, two have been identified as lion cubs; the remaining three will be analyzed to determine their species.
“If it’s a cheetah, a leopard, a lioness, a panther – whatever, it will be one of its kind,” said Mostafa Waziry, the head of Egypt’s Supreme Council for Antiquities.
The mummified large cats were found close to the remains of an adult mummified lion discovered beneath the Saqqara necropolis in 2004, and provide more information about the ancient Egyptians’ use of animals in worship.
Worshippers either believed that the mummified animals were deities to be worshipped, or mummified the creatures in order to offer them to the gods. “People would make devotional offerings in the form of animals as mummies,” said Dr. Salima Ikram, an Egyptologist and mummy expert at the American University of Cairo. “This would have more potency as a blood sacrifice, compared to stone or wooden images.”
Political instability and concerns about security drove down tourist numbers in the years following, dipping to record lows after the downing of Metrojet flights 7K9268 close to the resort town of Sharm el-sheik in 2016. In recent years there has been a surge in arrivals, with 11.3 million people visiting Egypt last year, according to local news reports.
