British scientists were able to study the contents of six animal sarcophagi at once, discovered at different times in ancient Egyptian cities, without opening them. They found bones of various animals, including lizards, pieces of fabric and lead, according to the study. published in scientific reports.
The tradition of mummifying not only people, but also animals, was widespread in ancient Egypt. The remains of animals that served the Egyptians as the personification of various deities, or as an offering to these deities, are often found in various ritual complexes and are generally attributed to the 1st millennium BCE. Often the remains are found inside animal statues or in peculiar sarcophagi – sealed boxes with an image of an animal on the outside.
Scientists led by Daniel O’Flynn of the British Museum were able to study the contents of six animal sarcophagi at once, which had not been previously studied with X-rays, without opening them. This was helped by neutron tomography, a type of computed tomography that allows you to obtain three-dimensional images of objects by means of transillumination with a stream of neutrons.
The six sarcophagi are kept in the collection of the British Museum, are made of copper alloy and are small in size, the smallest is only 5 centimeters long, the largest is 30.
The trustees of the British Museum and O’Flynn et al
Three chests decorated with figures of a lizard, an eel and having suspension loops date from 500 and 300 BC. and were discovered in the ancient Egyptian city of Naucratis. The fourth box, with a lizard figure on the lid, is dated to the period 664-332 BC. AD, it was found in the city of Tell el-Yahudiya. The two remaining sarcophagi, decorated with images of an eel and a human-headed cobra, date from the period 650-250 BC. and are of uncertain origin.
Analyzes showed that the three boxes contained animal bones, including the skull of a lizard, similar to a group of reptiles now endemic to North Africa.
Three of the boxes contained fragments of fabric, probably linen, which were used extensively in ancient Egyptian mummification practices. Scientists suggest that animal remains were wrapped in cloth before they were even placed in sarcophagi.
In the material of three of the six sarcophagi, the scientists found lead, which may be needed to distribute the weight in two of them and to seal the hole in the third. In three other lighter sarcophagi fitted with suspension rings, no lead was found. Scientists suggest that these sarcophagi could be hung on temple walls during religious gatherings, and that heavier sarcophagi were used for other purposes.
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