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Description : Egypt, Late Period, ca. 712 to 300 BCE. An incredibly-preserved bundle containing the body of a mummified sacred ibis. The bird's body is folded into a bundle and wrapped tightly in woven textiles, much of which remains - but one side of the head and neck is exposed, with the head, long, curved beak, and delicate bones of the neck visible, darkened by the patina of the years. Some of the delicate structures of the bird's feathers are visible on the face and near the bottom of the bundle, where there is another area of missing textile. The woven material has an intricate pattern, which is still visible on one side. A small bead of some kind is in the body cavity. The mummy may have once had a bronze head attached to its front, which was common practice for these ibis mummies. Size: 4.25 W x 13 H (10.8 cm x 33 cm) This example that clearly contains the actual body of the bird may be rarer than you assume - recent research suggests that up to a third of Egyptian animal mummy bundles only contain partial animals or are even just bundled cloth, made by ancient embalmers to sell to gullible pilgrims. The ibis, an elegant, long-legged wading bird that lives along the shores of the Nile, was associated with the god Thoth and, later, the sage Imhotep. He was the god of wisdom and writing, and in worship to him ibises were ritually sacrificed, embalmed, and mummified before being buried in underground galleries. CT-scans on some of these mummies has revealed that many were ritually fed posthumously. Their stomachs were removed during the mummification process, and, via an incision, a small parcel of food - mainly snails - was inserted into them before they were carefully replaced in the bird's chest cavity. As shocking as it may seem, there were millions of these burials, many of which have been excavated at Saqqara, near Memphis, Egypt's ancient capital. Saqqara was a temple complex with a large system of catacombs underneath it. DNA analysis on other animal mummies leads us to believe that the animals were bred specifically to be sacrificed and mummified. Especially during the Late Period, the Egyptians seem to have been obsessed with ibis (and other animal) mummies. A pious individual would go to the temple, pay a priest to intercede with Thoth for them, and the priest would mummify a bird just like this. Provenance: private Davis Collection, Houston, Texas, USA All items legal to buy/sell under U.S. Statute covering cultural patrimony Code 2600, CHAPTER 14, and are guaranteed to be as described or your money back. A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany all winning bids. We ship worldwide and handle all shipping in-house for your convenience. #132880
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