Votive offerings are by far the most common animal mummies. Their production began in earnest in the Late Period (672-332 BC) and continued into the Roman Period, at least through to the fourth century AD, when they number in the millions3. Votive offerings were given to gods, with particular animals associated with specific deities. Gods could also be symbolised as animals, such as the goddess Bastet, who could be depicted as a cat or other feline, or a human with feline head; and the god Horus who was often depicted as a hawk or falcon1,4,5. Mummified animals were purchased by visitors to temples, who, it has been suggested, would offer them to the gods, in a similar way that candles may be offered in churches today. Egyptologists have also suggested that the mummified votive animals were meant to act as messengers between people on earth and the gods1,6.
Using RoI imaging, package EC308 was identified as a cobra; an important snake in ancient Egypt. The cobra can represent the fiery goddess, channeling the power of the sun, illuminating the night, and effectively destroying enemies64 and acting as creational beings. Cobras were also associated with solar deities, such as those goddesses who were the daughters of the sun god, and with primeval (creational) gods such as Atum. Two uraei from the tomb of Rameses VI spit into receiving hands, which is a gesture of creation65. The uraeus is the rearing cobra often depicted on the brow of the king, and can be personified as a daughter of the sun-god. The spitting cobra, while feared, could thus be protective and creational.
cat goddess 69 cp
Damage to the beak of the bird specimen (W531) and to the protruding foot mean that superficial visual identification of the bird is extremely difficult. However, microCT permits the measurement of bone elements in the correct plane, enabling us to identify the likely species of the mummy as a kestrel. Previous studies have shown that falcons has been found in mummified packages5,13, and birds of prey feature heavily in ancient Egyptian religion, although the exact species is not always identified by Egyptologists. Birds of prey are usually associated with solar gods, for example the gods Horus, Sokar, and Re. In a scene in the tomb Sennedjem, Deir-el-Medina, the sister goddesses Isis and Nephthys are depicted as divine mourners for the dead in the form of kestrels73. The ancient Egyptians would have been familiar with kestrels as they seem to have been the most frequently mummified raptor57. The large number of mummified wild birds suggests that many could have been collected from the wild rather than have been bred and nurtured in the temple precincts8. However, there is also clear evidence of breeding of certain animals74. Further interrogation of the imaging data enabled a thorough digital examination of the condition of the skeleton and revealed desiccated soft tissues and internal organs.
Bastet, also known as Bast, is a cat-headed Egyptian goddess of cats, protection, and the moon. She was the goddess of warfare in Lower Egypt, the Nile River delta region, before the unification of the cultures of ancient Egypt. She is said to have the body of a human but the head of a cat. The goddess was sometimes depicted holding a ceremonial sistrum in one hand and an aegis in the other, the aegis usually resembling a collar or gorget embellished with a lioness head.
Bastet was originally a lioness warrior goddess of the sun throughout most of Ancient Egyptian history, but later she was changed into the cat goddess of the moon which is familiar today due to the Greeks occupying Ancient Egypt toward the end of its civilization. As protector of Lower Egypt, she was seen as defender of the pharaoh, and consequently of the chief deity, Ra. Along with the other lioness goddesses, she would occasionally be depicted as the embodiment of the Eye of Ra. Bastet was one of the gods to fight the evil snake Apep.
Her name was associated with the lavish jars in which Egyptians stored their ointment used as perfume. Bastet thus gradually became regarded as the goddess of perfumes, earning the title of perfumed protector. In connection with this, when Anubis became the god of embalming, Bastet came to be regarded as his wife for a short period of time. Bastet was also depicted as the goddess of protection against contagious diseases and evil spirits. 2ff7e9595c
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