The team was also able to dissect the mummies to learn how the animals lived and died more than 2,000 years ago, according to a press release from the University of Swansea in Wales, published on Thursday.
Earlier research had shown that the mummies contained a snake, a bird and a cat, but now X-ray micro-CT scan – which gives images 100 times as detailed as a medical CT scan – means that scientists themselves were able to see the teeth of the animals.
“With micro-CT, we can effectively perform a post-mortem on these animals, more than 2,000 years after they died in ancient Egypt,” said Richard Johnston, a professor at Swansea University who lead research.
“These are the most advanced scientific imaging techniques. Our work shows how the hi-tech tools of today can shed new light on the distant past.”
Researchers found that the cat was less than five months old, and separation from the vertebrae suggests that he was injured to death, while the bird was identified as a Eurasian kestrel, thanks to virtual bone measurement.
The snake was a juvenile Egyptian cobra, and scientists found evidence of kidney damage, meaning it probably suffered from a lack of access to water and developed a form of gout.
Investigators said the cobra was killed by a “slaughter operation” and may have been subjected to the “opening of the mouth” ceremony during mummification.
This ceremony, which does not necessarily physically involve the mouth, has been performed on human mummies and statues of gods, and there is some evidence that it is performed on mummified animals.
“The idea of it is that you make something, by performing the ritual, divine,” said Carolyn Graves-Brown, curator of the Egypt Center at Swansea University. “You make it possible to trade in the real world.”
Graves-Brown is of the opinion that small balls found in the mouth of the cobra could mean that it was subjected to the ceremony, and if it were, it would be the first evidence of complex ritualistic behavior applied to a snake.
Mummified animals such as cats, snakes, crocodiles and dogs were common in ancient Egypt. Sometimes they were buried with their owner, or supplied as a source of food in addition.
Most of the time, however, mummified animals were taken to temples as a sacrifice to the gods.
“Millions and millions of mummified animals have been found, so much so that in the past, in Victorian times, they were used as compost to put on the land,” Graves-Brown said.
Some large museums have collections of millions of mummies, and it is unlikely that they will perform this type of scan on a large scale, due to the amount of work involved in scanning and analyzing the resulting data.
However, the technology could open up many new avenues of research – for example, recovering mummified bird samples to determine the exact species, the researchers said.
In November 2019, Egypt unveiled an unusual discovery of dozens of mummified sacred animals, including cats, crocodiles and two lion cubs, found during the excavation of a tomb of a royal priest.
Khaled El-Enany, the Minister of Antiquity of Egypt, said that the find dates from the seventh century BC. and could “fill a museum by itself.”
And in April 2019, the ministry announced the discovery of a preserved double churchyard with the remains of a man, his wife and mummified animals, including cats and mice.
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