A royal burial for prized pets.

• Position: Ancient Egypt - Brief Article

When ancient Egyptians wanted to express their devotion to certain leaders or gods, they often did so with dead cats. Egyptians produced mummies of cats (and of hawks, ibises, falcons, and other animals) by the millions, particularly during the reign of Pharaoh Amenhotep III (1386-1349 B.C.). The mummies were placed in a tomb as an offering to the gods or as burial companions to a deceased ruler. There are so many animal mummies that archaeologists had assumed that they must have been produced in a rush for funerals. But research results published this fall by chemists at the University of Bristol in England show that the embalmers lavished as much care on the animals as they did on human mummies. The cats and other creatures, which were regarded with great respect by ancient Egyptians, were preserved with the same...