They might be disparaged as bin
chickens now but in ancient Egypt they were revered
Wed 14 Mar 2018 01.30 GMTLast
modified on Wed 14 Mar 2018 01.39 GMT
In Australia they’re reviled as
bin chickens. But in ancient Egypt, ibises were revered and offered as gifts to
the gods.
Two mummified ibises have given
researchers at the University of Sydney a riveting insight into their ancient
appeal.
Two ibis packages have been part
of the university’s Nicholson collection since 1914. They were discovered in
1913 in Abydos, Egypt, by the British-based Egyptian Exploration Society; the
university had helped pay for its excavations.
The assistant curator of the
Nicholson museum, Candace Richards, said: “Part of why I think this research
has such resonance and fun in Australia is that ibises are called bin chickens
and everybody thinks they are this kind of dirty, scavenger animal now, but in
the ancient world they were this revered, respected bird that was mummified for
the gods.”
The original paper documenting
the excavation described an “ibis cemetery” near the Royal Tombs. About 2,500
ibises were uncovered there. Many were preserved inside 93 clay jars.
These remains are believed to
date to the Roman period, making them 2,000 years old.
In ancient Egypt, the ibis was
sacred to the god Thoth, the scribe of the gods. Richards said ancient
Egyptians would buy mummified ibises to offer to the gods.
Richards said there were such
things as “ancient fakes”, where people would be sold mummified packets
containing only parts of the bird, or no bird at all.
Research based on x-rays taken
before the 1990s suggested one of the mummified packets being studied contained
two ibises and the other contained only a single thigh bone.
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