Ancient Egyptians gathered birds from the wild for sacrifice and mummification

DNA study rejects the idea that Egyptians domesticated sacred ibis for ritual use

Date: November 13, 2019

Source: PLOS

In ancient Egypt, Sacred Ibises were collected from their natural habitats to be ritually sacrificed, according to a study released November 13, 2019 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Sally Wasef of Griffith University, Australia and colleagues.

Egyptian catacombs are famously filled with the mummified bodies of Sacred Ibises. Between around 664BC and 250AD, it was common practice for the birds to be sacrificed, or much more rarely worshipped in ritual service to the god Thoth, and subsequently mummified. In ancient sites across Egypt, these mummified birds are stacked floor to ceiling along kilometers of catacombs, totaling many millions of birds. But how the Egyptians got access to so many birds has been a mystery; some ancient texts indicate that long-term farming and domestication may have been employed.

In this study, Wasef and colleagues collected DNA from 40 mummified Sacred Ibis specimens from six Egyptian catacombs dating to around 2500 years ago and 26 modern specimens from across Africa. 14 of the mummies and all of the modern specimens yielded complete mitochondrial genome sequences. These data allowed the researchers to compare genetic diversity between wild populations and the sacrificed collections.

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No one here but us (dead) chickens! Thousands of birds die from heat, not Jewish sin ritual

EDITOR'S NOTE: The CFZ is primarily a research organisation, but we are also involved in activism and animal welfare. Therefore, stories like this, which aren't the least bit Fortean, are included because we think that it is important that such events are highlighted, rather than ignored.

Thousands of chickens — condemned to die in a Jewish redemption ritual — instead died in Wednesday's unseasonable heat, causing the annual rites to be put on ice in some Brooklyn neighborhoods, the Daily News has learned.

The soon-to-be-slaughtered poultry perished at the hands of a higher power when the mercury hit the mid-90s — hours before they could be used in Kapparot, an Orthodox tradition wherein Jews symbolically transfer their sins to the bird before sacrificing it.

"We lost about 2,000 chickens because of the heat," said a man who works in Skwere Mosdos, a Borough Park shul.

"It's a big loss," added the man who declined to give his name. Another person at the 45th St. establishment estimated the death toll at 800.

The hot and muggy day caused a calamity for other Kapparot operations.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/brooklyn/birds-die-annual-ritual-slaughter-article-1.1454098#ixzz2ese2GTCW