Unbelievable facts
More than 2,000 years ago, Egyptians probably raised cats specifically for mummification and offerings to gods, researchers said. Italian scientists came to this conclusion after studying mummified kittens that were bought by the National Archaeological Museum in Parma as part of an Egyptian collection in the 18th century.
A team of scientists took radiographs—X-rays—of the mummy to look inside the packaging material. It turned out that the small cat was actually a kitten aged 5-6 months.
The location of the remains inside the mummy suggests that the kitten was sacrificed and used as an offering to the gods, scientists said. Scientists suggest that since the cat was too young, it was probably raised specifically for mummification.
The cat was packed very tightly and placed in a sitting position before mummification. Similarly, cats were depicted in hieroglyphics from that period, between 332 and 30 BC.
In order for the cat to take up as little space as possible, the embalmers crushed some of the bones, including the spine at the base to place the tail as close to the body as possible, and the ribs to place the limbs were closer to the body.
A hole in a cat's skull could indicate the cause of her death. Or it was done during the mummification process to remove the contents of the skull.
“The composition of the mummy wrapping material is very interesting, as it has different geometric patterns. The eyes are painted with black ink,” scientists say.
Kittens between 2 and 4 months old were sacrificed in large numbers because they could be mummified more easily. All kitten mummies of that time are made the same.