Mummified Puppies
Millions of dogs and other small animals killed, mummified and entombed in dark catacombs. Who would do such a thing? Why, animal lovers, of course.
It is not a place many would wander alone. The pitch-black darkness engulfs every corner of these vast underground caverns. The crumbling walls are hewn from stone but the debris of millennia of neglect litters every passage. Still, the structure stands, as does the temple to Anubis, God of the Dead under which it is located.
A depiction of Anubis,
the God of Death.
Above lies the sand-whipped aridity of Saqqara, the necropolis of the ancient Egyptian city of Memphis. But here, within these subterranean catacombs, lie the mummified remains of approximately 8 million animals. They have been here since 4-5 B.C.
Unlike the pharaohs, these animal remains are not interred within sarcophagi but mainly piled one atop another in the many chambers. They are mostly of dogs but there are cats, jackals, foxes and falcons, too. Archaeologists who analysed the remains discovered that they range in age from a few hours to many years. Few, if any, died a natural death.
What seems at first to be a ghastly act of unprecedented cruelty is not quite so. In an ironic twist of fate, these animals lost their lives not because they were reviled but because they were revered.
Animals in Ancient Egyptian Beliefs
The religion of ancient Egypt was similar to all of mankind’s early religions in its respect for, and alignment with the natural world. One of the tenets common to these religions was a reverence for animals. In fact, in this respect, the ancient Egyptians seem to have surpassed all others.
Hieroglyphs inscribed on the walls of their cities, temples, pyramids, palaces and on everyday objects depict animals more often than the artefacts of any other civilisation. Some experts estimate that between 40% and 50% of Egyptian hieroglyphs are related to domestic creatures and wildlife.
Even the gods that they worshipped often possessed the physical characteristics of both man and animal. The canine-headed god of the Underworld, Anubis and the human-headed winged lion, the Sphinx are two excellent examples of such hybrid deities.
Certain animals were accorded what was virtually godly status because they shared features with deities. At one point, killing a cat was a crime punishable by death. So, why would a culture so intimately bound to both domestic and wild animals resort to the almost unimaginable cruelty of killing and mummifying millions of them?
The answer lies in the Egyptian concept of life, death and afterlife.
Death as a Doorway
The ancient Egyptian religion regarded physical existence on earth as a prelude to an afterlife which worked along very similar rules. From the treasures that have been found inside the pyramids, it is evident that their beliefs dictated that it was possible to ‘cross over’ from the earthly plane with material objects.
Such beliefs are not limited by geography or time. A variation of the philosophy is still widely practised today in what is known as the Hungry Ghosts Festival.
In this month-long annual celebration, Chinese communities around the world make offerings to the deceased. These offerings are usually in the form of food, particularly mandarin oranges and cakes. However, they are also accompanied by the burning of paper representations of material objects such as cash, luxury cars, fancy watches and even mansions.
These practices developed continents and millennia apart are rooted in love. They are inherently benign acts that perhaps serve more to console the living than reward the deceased. For loved ones, they are an avenue to cope with grief and loss, and maybe to grapple with forgiveness.
Why Animal Mummies?
Egyptologists believe that there were three main reasons for animal mummification.
The first of these was as religious offerings. The 8 million mummified dogs and other animals below the temple of Anubis at Saqqara are the most emphatic example. Anubis has long been described as having the head of a dog or a canine; more recently, that canine has been identified as the African golden wolf.
Because wolves, dogs, jackals and foxes all belong to the canine family, they were the preferred votive offering to Anubis. These animals were assumed to have the ear of the god and Egyptians used them as a conduit to ask for a good afterlife for their deceased friends and relatives.
Mummified corpses of a monkey and a dog
It is speculated that there were vast puppy farms in the vicinity of the temple. They provided a steady stream of corpses for the priests to mummify. Adherents could purchase these pre-mummified animals in much the same way that we buy fruit, flowers and incense outside our temples today.
The second reason for mummification was companionship. As examples, archaeologists cite several tombs that were found to contain both a human mummy and one or more mummified animals within the sarcophagus.
This placement of an animal mummy inside the sarcophagus, in such close proximity to the human mummy, indicates that they shared a strong bond in life. Besides dogs and cats, even monkeys and gazelle have been found like this.
These animal mummies received the most care and attention because they were not mass-produced. Surviving examples reveal intricate geometric patterns in the weave and even coloured bandages.
In another similarity with the Chinese Hungry Ghosts Festival, the third reason for the mummification of animals was as food for the dead. Ancient Egyptians believed that the journey to the afterlife would take time and prepared animal mummies so they could be consumed on the way.
These mummies differed from the religious offering and pet mummies in that the meat was dried and then wrapped in linen. The level of preservation was less thorough, too, as they were not meant to be eternal but consumed within a short time.
Experts studying the animal mummies at Saqqara are confident that they all fall into the second category, religious offerings. Yet, they were not all treated the same. The majority seem to have been processed in almost a production line but special care was afforded to a much smaller number.
Instead of being piled up in the chambers, these mummies were found in special niches within the rock. The theory is that these animals may have possessed special markings that were regarded auspicious, were sacrificed on special holy days or had been offered up by a person of high standing.
How Much is Too Much?
The starkest difference between the Egyptian and the Chinese beliefs is that the latter does not harm any of the living beings. And while the idea of animal sacrifice is disturbing enough, the Egyptians also seemed to have experimented with what may be considered the ultimate sin: human sacrifice.
Hieroglyphs on the tombs of kings from the First Dynasty (c. 3150 – c. 2890 BC) depict what seems to be the ritual killing of people when a ruler was buried. This practice is thought to have been inherited from the Pre-Dynastic period and, fortunately, it fell out of favour after the First Dynasty.
Some uncertainty remains about the interpretation of the inscriptions though.
The corpses of the individuals buried with the kings do not bear the injuries shown in the images depicting the sacrificial rites. However, because the bodies entombed with each pharaoh are of otherwise healthy individuals of varying ages, it does seem that they met their end at the same time to be placed in the tombs with that pharaoh.
Experts interpret these two seemingly contradictory pieces of evidence as relating to two different groups of people. First were those in the hieroglyphs, the human sacrifices who were likely to be prisoners of war or criminals put to death in the brutal ways shown.
Meanwhile, the individuals buried with the king were members of his retinue or inner circle who volunteered or were chosen to accompany him in the afterlife to serve there just as they had in the physical realm. The lack of injuries on their bodies suggests that poison would have been the preferred method of execution.
Of Dogs and Men
The pharaohs were mummified at the end of their lives, whether they perished naturally from old age or illness, or violently from injury or battle. It is theorised that the accompanying human sacrifices comprising domestic servants and retainers either volunteered for the role or did not entirely oppose their selection when the choice wasn’t theirs.
It is possible they opted for this fate because their families received some compensation for their loss. Maybe the individuals believed that they were following the pharaoh to a paradise, a not unpleasant fate that would be denied to them if they perished another way. Perhaps they only knew a life of servitude and could not imagine an existence beyond the yoke.
By contrast, what choice did the animals have?
They were over 8 million living, sentient beings led to the slaughter for ‘a greater good’ whose value and merit they did not have the capacity to comprehend.
Many of the mummified remains reveal that the animals had their necks broken. Hopefully, the way in which this was done resulted in a quick and painless death. We can only pray that they were unaware of their fate beforehand and thus were spared the fear and distress.
It is conceivable that the priests would have had them drugged to minimise any resistance. Let us hope that this is so for it would have had the side-effect of letting them drift off to sleep and cross peacefully over to the afterlife, unaware.
As Buddhists, we believe every life is a life and that every animal possesses a soul just as every person does. The life we lead on earth and how we leave it is the result of the karma we accumulate. In that sense, the dogs and other animals were simply fulfilling a destiny created by their past actions.
However, the Universe does not need human assistance – in this case, from the Egyptian priests – to turn the Wheel of Karma. Their part in killing animals to mummify them only generated bad karma for which they would have to atone later.
Selective Outrage?
Man is a slow learner, if he learns at all.
Most of us are aghast at reading about those dogs from antiquity and tsk-tsk at the atrocity. Meanwhile, the carnage continues not just unabated but accelerated around us today and we barely flinch or raise our voices.
Millions of animals are still slaughtered every year in religious festivals as ‘offerings to God’. Over the centuries that these practices have been followed, the cumulative death toll has soared into the billions. The count of 8 million over 2,000 years at Saqqara pales in comparison.
Then, there are the puppy farms. Dogs rescued from the streets end up being euthanised because we prefer to get a ‘new’ dog from a factory that churns them out for a profit. More puppy mills mean more stray dogs, which means more euthanised strays. It is a vicious cycle.
The next time you see a puppy in the pet store, do think about where he or she came from before you bring them home…
For more interesting information:
- Osiris: The Egyptian God of the Underworld
- Animal-headed Divinities in Christianity
- Babylonian King and Buddha
- Mummified puppies
- A Lost Underwater City Has Been Found 1,700 Years After It Sank
- The Importance of Rebirth
- The Underground City of Cappadocia
- Sacred Mountains Around the World
- Ancient Chinese Earthquake Detector
- In the Footsteps of Joseph Rock
- Legends of Mount Shasta
- Chariots, Gods & Beyond – MUST WATCH VIDEO
- The Intriguing Green Children of Woolpit
- Pele – Hawaiian Goddess
- Gemu Goddess of Mosuo
- The Legend of the Mermaid
- Mysteries of the Goatman
- The Hidden Nature of Trolls
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Since ancient times, human and animals have had a very close relationship. Animals are kept as a pet to give protection or as a companion to human being. Even though animals cannot speak our language but they can feel our emotions. For better or worse, they will never abandon the owner. We should never harm animals or mistreat them. They are just the same as us, they want happiness and they don’t want sufferings.
Interesting article …… The remains of mummified dogs and jackals, about 8 million of them have been found within the ancient Egyptian Dog Catacombs. The ancient believed animal mummification will allow beloved pets to go on to the afterlife. . Researchers have uncovered the huge number of mummified animals suggests the existence of ancient Egyptian puppy mills. In Egyptian culture, they have their religious belief to do so at that time. Interesting read.
Thank you Rinpoche for this sharing.
Truly amazing to know about mummified puppies. Thought there are only mummified humans. Thank you Rinpoche and blog team for this very interesting and educational article???
First thing that comes to me is that mummies are mummified bodies of the dead that would ensure a safe passage to the after life.But never strikes me that ancient times the Egypians do have mummified puppies often had animals buried with them, may it be their beloved pet or as part of a religious ritual. Researchers have discovered burial sites filled with huge numbers of mummified animals — nearly 8 million of them, mostly dogs. The huge number of dog mummies suggests the existence of ancient Egyptian puppy mills.They mummified various animals. It was an enormous part of Egyptian culture, not only in their role as food and pets, but also for religious reasons. Whatever the reason it seem really heartless to me that such a number of pets or puppies been mummified. But do they deserved a better life than that. They should be treated as humans too.
Thank you Rinpoche for sharing this interesting article.
I am in no place to judge but it is pretty sick to me, 8 MILLION puppies! That’s not a small number, this is pretty sad, people can do just anything to worship or delight the gods they worship, even at the cost of ‘sacrificing’ so many lives.
I don’t quite understand their culture and I don’t see the point of doing this either but since it’s their culture/ tradition/ beliefs, I have nothing to say.
Animal cruelty still exists up to this day and in this new era, most of it was not committed out of beliefs or so, but for the sake of entertainment. Yes it is very sad, it comes to show that humanity hasn’t improved that much.
Yet again we see another instance when death is industrialised. What can I say, people sure are creative when it comes to worshiping their gods and making offerings on behalf of the dead…
If any god requires the death of another being so you can please him / her, that is not a god I want to worship. Why would I want to worship a god that it just like me – jealous, angersome, has an ego? If I wanted to worship a god that is just like me, well heck I’ll print off a photo of myself and make offerings to that instead LOL!
In all seriousness, when I engage in spiritual practice, those are the qualities I want to get rid of. I don’t need someone else showing me how to act out those qualities in some big, divine way when I’m already doing a very good job of that in my own mundane way.
No matter what are the reasons, I definitely do not support acts that include taking away other peoples’ or animals’ lives. But this is what they believe in therefore there’s nothing much I can say no matter how much I despise and disagree with this kind of “culture”. I don’t see where’s the actual difference between mummifying dogs and the dog meat festival in China besides the fact that they both are of different motivations. I don’t understand where did people adopt the weird thinking of sacrificing dogs from and it’s not like they know it subconsciously that its a wrong thing to do but they just solely believe that by doing so will bring immense benefits and this is the part that bothers me the most.
The amount of puppies mummified makes me feel amazed and grief and the same time. It is extremely sad to know that animal cruelty was already existent in a world where civilisation had just began. It is indeed shameful. I was actually a lover of Ancient Egyptian mythology and culture but the fact that they massacre a lot of animals makes me feel less love for their culture.
It is so nice of the Egyptians to be so loving till they want to be buried with their beloved pets.. There goes to show that human-pet relationship transcends time..
As for the puppy mill, it saddens me that it is still happening till today at this day of age.. And we have no one to blame but ourselves, the selfish human. Causing unnecessary stress and problems to the species which cannot speak for themselves..
We should help create an awareness to stop these horrible trade. When the buying stops, the breeding will stop too.. Help create awareness anyway we can..
Thank you for sharing, Rinpoche!
It’s strange how many religions throughout the many civilisations of the world have included animal sacrifices as a part of their rituals and prayers. This whole concept is very bizarre – that you would destroy another life for the sake of praying to your god – what god would accept, want and encourage the destruction of life? Isn’t that a very strange kind of concept and why would you take refuge in a being like this?
It’s horribly sad to think of such an huge number of dogs having been mummified. I had thought at first that perhaps these dogs might already have been dead before they were mummified, but to hear that they were of all ages points more likely to the fact that they were deliberately killed for this purpose of being mummified. What awful karma all that must accumulate to.
On a larger scale, this whole sense of mummifying as a way of preserving an immortalising these beings is a strange one in itself too – whatever is preserved is just a shell… and for all the effort, time and money that went into mummifying these beings (humans, animals etc), what purpose does it serve now? Nobody in the world now remembers who these people were, nor even really celebrates them. There is no such thing as living forever, no matter how hard we might try. The sad reality is that even just a few generations from now, nobody will even remember what we looked like.
8 million?!?! And some just days or hours after they were born? I always wonder why do people assume that sacrificing animals is right? That it will lead you somewhere. How selfish is that? And yes, until today, I believe that the amount of animals being sacrificed are higher than before. Just look at all the breeding farms around the world. They are increasing and so are the killings.
There was one time I was in Nepal and there was a Hindu festival going on. All I could see was just blood everywhere. It was really sad.
It is very sad that killings have not stop but increase in this civilise times.
Hence it is important that we continue to promote the awareness to prevent or at least minimise.
We need to continue to educate and spread the awareness to our friends and family members, as long as the demand drop, there supples will be reduced.
Many cultures have the custom of bury alive human or pets together with the deceased as companion, servants or property. They believe they can bring along all their belongings to afterlife, to continue enjoying the good life they had.
By viewing pets or servants as their property, objects without life or free will, will only you have them buried alive.
We will only not hurting another human or animal, when we take them as living beings with right to live, and will feel pain and sufferings exactly like us…
I have always been puzzled at why people would make sacrifices of lives to a superior being… some even go as far as human sacrifices. It is just so strange to even think of sacrificing a life… How can the loss of one life bring us benefit? Just doesn’t make sense.
I must agree on puppy mills… the cruelty that exists there is just beyond words. I have not witnessed any of these cruel treatment personally, but I have watched videos and heard of some local backyard breeders that treat animals horribly.
8 millions dog are sacrificed just for a god ? someone must made a very very huge wish… I have no much idea about Egypt but their mommies is world famous. In the most ancient world or city, people used to have sacrificed ceremony, but obviously their wishes did not come true, if not the ancient Egypt will not faced any downfall.
Wow this is a very interesting read! 8 million mummified dogs? This is the first time I’ve seen proven evidences of mummified animals. Never occurred to me before about mummified animals. Egypitian history is indeed very interesting.
The act of offering mummified dogs to Anubis is translated even to today’s society, where the Chinese offers Roast pigs and whole chickens as a symbol of ‘giving the best’ to the supreme being. Although the subject is different, the act is the same – a lost life; so I don’t see it as a surprise that the ancient Egyptians used this as an offering. What’s the difference? Ultimately, it’s a life that is offered.
I kind of feel its odd to sacrifice animals that are similar to one’s deity to please them. I mean the Hindu’s don’t eat cows or kill them to please their gods. Its quite an odd concept to me what the ancient Egyptians practised to please their Gods. If I was a God that looked like dog and my worshippers killed dogs I’d be offended and strike down my mortal worshippers.
Puppy mills are really an abomination, if one really must have pets please check out the animals who will be put down by the SPCA’s in your area. There are many animals who need your love.
8 Million lives taken and mummified, that is soo much life taken for what purpose we may never know yet as was said in the article there is still karma of killing and thats a lot of karma.
They say the first life to take is the hardest then it becomes easier, 7,999,999 million more to be exact.
Yup, if they know about Karma….8 million of lives been taken away for something which has no promise or guarantee, oh my Buddha…
Whether the deceased able to receive the blessing and protection from their god is another question too, but for sure the people who involve in it created a very heavy negative karma.
Same as building a Buddhist temple, creating large Buddha images etc, people who are involve in creating will create tremendous among of good Karma and merits.
We are very fortunate to have all 13 departments ready for us do get involve and collect merits.
This is slightly creepy. But I can believe the theory that the dogs were killed as sacrifices to Anubis, in the belief that they would carry the prayers to him. How sick. Yet how plausible.
I have always been interested in Ancient Egyptian civilization and history. I used to read about the different gods, pyramids, cleopatra, legend of King Tut etc…. This is the first time I have heard of mummified dogs as offerings though. But I can believe it from a race of people who bury their slaves alive so that they can serve the pharoahs in the afterlife.
Horrible.
A discovery of 8million mummified dogs were found in dugup catacombs, specially made for the offerings of same to the Gods of old Egypt by Egyptologists. One of these gods was known as Anubis, the canine-headed god, the most important of all the gods in old Egypt for the dead. According to archaecologists, the practice seemed the very much the same as what modern people do today, i.e. lighting up candles, incense to accompany the offerings of slaughtered animals of all ages and sizes to the gods of their belief in accordance to their customs and faith. Stangely, in this case, they found a small number of mummified cats amongst the dogs in the catacomb. It was assumed could be a fake-up to make up the insufficiency of the shortages of the mummified dogs in number. Karmically, can anyone imagine the amount of negative karma had been caused in such killings, and done through the years of offerings till today without decrease it seems; a sad horrific truth of animal cruelty!!! OM MANI PADME HUM.