Customer Reviews

Divine Creatures: Animal Mummies in Ancient Egypt

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An excellent book by a professor of Egyptology at the American University of Cairo. It deals with all the reasons why animals were mummified in ancient Egypt, why these mummies acccmpanied their masters into their tombs, and also the hoaxes that were sometimes perpetrated on unsuspecting pilgrims who thought that they were actually purchasing mummies of animals to offer to the gods. Salima Ikram is the leading authority on the subject of animal mummies. She has written widely on the subject, lectured on it at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington DC, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the British Museum in London, and several other well-known institutes, and appears frequently on TV (I have seen her on the Discovery Channel, the History Channel, the National Geographic Channel, etc, etc.) She has established a room for animal mummies in the Egyptian museum in Cairo, the first of its kind in the world.

A fantastic book on the subject of animal mummies in ancient Egypt. It is written by some of the top Egyptologists in this field of study and can provide huge amounts of information on all that you would want to know about this ancient practice...from the reasons behind animal mummies (why they were scared etc.), the actual process of making them and the areas where these votive offerings were placed (i.e. holy sites such as Saqqara, Tuna al-Gebel and so fourth). It's a highly academic book and perfect for all Egyptologists out there or those who immerse themselves in the study of ancient Egypt. There are a number of beautiful picture within the book as well. Overall, it's a wonderful book!

Ikram is sensational. The diversity of information found in this book is wonderful. The book is an excellent source for animal cult studies and animal mummification with color photos and multiple illustrations.