Archaeologists in Egypt have discovered what they believe is the oldest known animal burial site in the world.
Nearly 600 cats, dogs and monkeys were carefully found in individual graves in Berenike, a remote seaport on the west coast of the Red Sea.
Some of the animals still wore collars and other decorations, and others showed signs of disease that indicated they had been cared for by humans.
But the lack of mummification or sacrifice at the 2,000-year-old site suggests these were companion animals, not used in rituals or worshiped as gods.
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The remains of some 588 cats, dogs and monkeys were found at a site in the ancient Egyptian harbor of Berenike, which archaeologists believe is the oldest known pet cemetery.
Berenike was founded in 275 BC by Pharaoh Ptolemy II Philadelphus, who named it after his mother, Berenice I of Egypt.
It was a bustling Roman port, and excavations have uncovered ceramics, spices, fabrics and other goods from even India, as well as luxury items from around the empire.
Berenike was also a staging post for ‘war elephants’ from Africa who would be sent out to fight in various battles.
Archaeologist Marta Osypinska and her archaeologist husband, Piotr, originally discovered the cemetery in 2011 while excavating a Roman rubbish dump on the outskirts of the city.
A number of the dogs found at the site had medical issues that they could not have survived without a human caretaker. Many, like this dog, were buried under pottery ‘forming a kind of sarcophagus’
In 2017, they excavated the remains of about 100 animals, mostly cats, and started to form a picture of what the area was used for.
Other experts still thought they might just be trash.
It was not uncommon to bury pets in ancient Egypt, but most of the time they were buried with their owners, not in a dedicated room.
“In the beginning, some very experienced archaeologists discouraged me from doing this research,” Osypinska told Science.
They maintained that there was little to be learned about the Berenike culture from studying pets.
“I hope the results of our studies prove it’s worth it,” she told the magazine.
Marta and Piotr Osypinska first excavated the site in 2011, but did not immediately define its purpose as an animal graveyard. Even after more than 100 animal remains were discovered there, experts discouraged their investigation
According to her research, published in the journal World Archeology, the “animal burial ground” in Berenice functioned for about a hundred years, from the mid-first century to the mid-second century.
DID ANCIENT EGYPTS WORSHIP CATS?
It is believed that the ancient Egyptians cared for domesticated cats as early as 3700 BC.
Until recently, it was thought that cats were first domesticated in the country around 1950 BC.
But evidence has also been found of felines as pets, indicating that farmers cared for cats in 3300 BC.
As a revered animal, cats can receive the same mummification as humans. Their remains were often dedicated to the goddess Bastet. Pictured: Astatue found in Saqqara
Cats were also used as religious offerings in ancient Egypt more than 5,500 years ago.
Known as ‘Mau’, they were important in later Egyptian society and became symbols of grace.
Two goddesses took the form of cats: Mafdet, a lion-headed goddess of justice and execution, and Bastet, who represented fertility and motherhood.
As a revered animal, cats could be mummified after death, and their remains were often dedicated to Bastet.
It is thought that there were four main reasons for mummifying animals: to be worshiped as manifestations of certain gods, as offerings to the gods, to provide food in the afterlife, and to allow beloved pets to live on in the afterlife.
In total, the team has found 585 animals so far, some of which are not native to Africa.
The vast majority – more than 90 percent – were cats, although there were also dogs, baboons, and two species of macaques that were native to the Indian subcontinent.
Of the dogs, most were light-colored Spitz types, although there were also toy dogs and larger canines that looked more like mastiffs.
Many of the cats wore metal collars or chains strung with ostrich shell beads.
Osypinska told Science that many of the animals were covered with cloth or pottery, “which formed a kind of sarcophagus.”
The animals were not thrown out haphazardly, but carefully placed in individual pits.
One cat was placed on top of a large bird’s wing, the magazine reported.
In consultation with a veterinarian, Osypinska’s team was able to determine that several animals had diseases that would have killed them without human handlers.
The remains of a dog suffering from bone cancer were found in a mat of palm fronds covered with an amphora, according to Archeology News Network.
His stomach still had the remains of fish and goat meat, the last meal.
Other canines were missing most of their teeth, had gum disease, or showed signs of joint degeneration.
“We have people with very limited mobility,” said Osypinska. “Such animals had to be fed to survive, sometimes with special food in the case of the almost toothless animals.”
The kind of dedication it takes to care for an old pet, according to the report, reveals that the people of Berenice had strong emotional connections with domesticated animals.
Archaeologists have uncovered massive animal graves in Egypt before, but almost always the creatures were either sacrificed or revered, not treated as pets.
In 2018, dozens of mummified cats were found on the edge of the King Userkaf pyramid complex in the ancient necropolis of Saqqara, south of Cairo.
Several years earlier, a labyrinth of sacred tunnels was uncovered in the same region, filled with the mummified remains of up to eight million dogs, some of which were only hours old when they were sacrificed.
Other canines were treated as living representatives of the dog-headed god Anubis, who lived their lives in the nearby temple before being preserved and laid to rest in the network of tunnels.
Berenike’s people treated these animals as loving companions, Osypinska insists, “They weren’t doing it for the gods or for any use.”