Animals and humans share a bond that can be traced back through centuries. In Ancient Egypt, many animals were prized pets of royal families and even seen as deities incarnate. They were worshipped and in some cases buried with their owners and mummified to join them in the afterlife. Now, that centuries-old tradition can be seen at Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art, where Soulful Creatures: Animal Mummies in Ancient Egypt sits on display through September 13.
Curated by Yekaterina Barbash and Edward Bleiberg of the Brooklyn Museum, Soulful Creatures is one of the first major exhibitions to cover this fascinating religious practice. The exhibit showcases approximately 36 animal mummies from as early as 760 B.C.E., alongside well-preserved artifacts, coffins, ancient jewelry and statuettes. Here are some cool things we learned after browsing it.
The Egyptians had their faves.
Mummified Cat
Certain animals—Ibis birds, crocodiles, felines and Apis bulls—were sacred due to their spiritual relationship with deities like Thoth, the god of wisdom and writing, and the fierce goddess Bastet. Soulful Creatures boasts several mummies of each. Some have been wrapped in intricately woven cloth, while others—such as the Ibis—have been placed in elaborate, gilded coffins to guide the bird’s transition onto the next plane. They’re well-preserved, and it’s easy to get lost in spotting little details like the curve of a cat’s ears or the physique of a baby crocodile.
Animals were essential to language.
A sizable amount of hieroglyphic signs actually represented animals—but not because we’re obsessed with them. Images often featured animals to signify different phonetic sounds, revealing just how integral they were to the Egyptian language. Funnily enough, depictions of animals imitating humans, like a cat walking on its hind legs, were also early attempts at satire. Nothing like an ancient Egyptian meme to get the people going.
Coffin games were strong.
After deceased animals were dried out using a natural salt called natron, embalmer priests wrapped them in linen and sometimes placed them inside coffins. That final resting place was an indicator of wealth. Ceramic jars were commonly used as inexpensive coffins and more affluent ones were forged out of wood, bronze and gold. Sacred animals, like felines, had coffins created in their image as a sign of reverence.
Not every mummy was created equally.
A good number of animal mummies were votives, which were prepared and buried to deliver inscriptions and prayers to the Egyptian gods. Worshippers often used these mummies to address the gods with their grievances, sort of like a primordial message board. Votive mummies also served as offerings, though some have famously only contained parts of the animal’s remains or none at all, leading to theories of perceived trickery from embalmer priests. At the end of the Soulful Creatures exhibit, you can view CT scans and X-rays of mummies to see what’s really inside. The results may surprise you.
Soulful Creatures: Animal Mummies in Ancient Egypt Thru September 13, daily, 10 a.m.-6 p.m., $29. Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art, bellagio.com.
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