COSI’s Lost Egypt Exhibition

Author: Kate

AERA Dog Mummies

The osteology team at the Lost City of the Pyramid Builders came across a Late Period (747-525 BC) burial with five well-preserved canines, better preserved than many of the Late Period human burials. Brian Hunt of the AERA team says on their blog “These dogs were possibly buried in the Late Period cemetery as votives to the god Anubis. Like most ancient funerary material, they were a device to ensure the everlasting peace of the dead.” To see more pictures and find out more about this story, read the AERA blog.

Anubis #1

Anubis #2

Dr. Salima Ikram

The relationship between humans and canines goes back a long time, and in ancient Egypt, the god Anubis is seen with a jackal’s head. Our project advisor Dr. Salima Ikram says “Dogs are associated with Anubis. Anubis is one of my favorite gods. He’s the god of embalming, of mummification. Anubis is sort of a super-canid, so he’s a mixture of a dog, a fox, a wolf, and a jackal. One of the reasons they chose him is because if you go to a cemetery, what kind of animals do you see most? You see jackals. So, this is a way to keep you safe against the jackals. Anubis took the dead—he led their spirits–from the world of the living to the world of the dead. So he’s known as the “opener of the ways.” And of course dogs (and other canids) know their way through the desert paths, for hunting and tracking.”

AERA Dogs #1

AERA Dogs #2