SAEDNEWS: Archaeologists from the American University in Cairo and Cardiff University in Wales, who have been excavating Egypt’s historic Saqqara cemetery for years, have announced the discovery of eight million animal mummies at this ancient site.
According to the History and Culture section of Saed News, citing ISNA, archaeologists exploring this historic cemetery over the years have uncovered mummies of eight million animals, most of them dogs. Research on the discovered mummies indicates that some of these animals had lived for years before dying, although the majority were mummified and buried shortly after birth.
These mummies were found in the catacombs of Saqqara and were offered as gifts to certain Egyptian gods. Ancient Egyptians believed that the spirit of a mummified dog could accompany its owner in the afterlife.
The cemetery, located 30 kilometers from Cairo, is approximately 3,400 years old. The first dog mummy catacomb at Saqqara was discovered in 1897 by French Egyptologist Jacques de Morgan, and hundreds of additional catacombs have been uncovered in the years since. Over several decades of excavations in Saqqara, alongside millions of dog mummies, thousands of mummified cows, monkeys, falcons, and cats have also been found.
