Archaeologists in Egypt have discovered what they believe to be the world’s oldest pet cemetery.
About 600 cats, dogs and monkeys were found carefully deposited in individual graves in Berenike, a remote seaport on the west coast of the Red Sea.
Some of the animals still wore necklaces and other ornaments, and others showed evidence of disease indicating that they had been cared for by humans.
But the lack of mummification or sacrifice at the 2,000-year-old site suggests that they were pets, 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 port of Berenike, in what archaeologists believe could be 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 pottery, spices, textiles, and other commodities as far away as India, as well as luxury items from all over the empire.
Berenike was also a transit station for “war elephants” from Africa who would be sent to fight in various battles.
Archaeozoologist Marta Osypinska and her archaeologist husband, Piotr, originally discovered the cemetery site in 2011 while digging a Roman landfill on the outskirts of the city.
Some of the dogs found at the site had medical issues that could not have survived without the human caregiver. Many, like this dog, were buried under pottery “which formed a kind of sarcophagus.”
In 2017 they unearthed the remains of about 100 animals, mostly cats, and began making an image of what the area was used for.
Other experts still believed they could have simply been dumped in the trash.
It was not uncommon to bury pets in ancient Egypt, but they were usually buried with their owners and not located in a dedicated space.
“At first, some very experienced archaeologists discouraged me from this research,” Osypinska told Science.
They insisted that there was little to learn about the Berenike culture by studying pets.
“I hope the results of our studies show that it’s worth it,” he told the journal.
Marta and Piotr Osypinska first unearthed the site in 2011, but did not immediately determine its purpose as a pet cemetery. Even after more than 100 animal remains were discovered, experts discouraged their research.
According to his research, published in the journal World Archeology, Berenice’s “pet cemetery” operated for about a hundred years, from the middle of the 1st century to the middle of the 2nd century.
DID THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS WORSHIP CATS?
It is believed that the ancient Egyptians cared for domesticated cats from 3700 BC.
Until recently, it was thought that cats were first domesticated in the country around 1950 BC.
But evidence of pet cats has also been found in China, indicating that farmers cared for cats in 3300 BC.
As a revered animal, cats could receive the same mummification as humans. Her remains were often dedicated to the goddess Bastet. In the photo: Astatue found in Saqqara
Cats were also used as religious sacrifices 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 goddess of justice and execution with a lion’s head, 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 believed 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 for the afterlife, and to allow loved pets to live in the afterlife.
In total, the team has found 585 animals to date, some of which are not native to Africa.
The vast majority (over 90%) were cats, although there were also dogs, baboons and two species of macaques native to the Indian subcontinent.
Of the dogs, most were light-colored Spitz types, although there were also larger toy dogs and canines, more similar to mastiffs.
Many of the cats wore metal collars or threaded collars with ostrich shell beads.
Osypinska told Science that many of the animals were covered with fabrics or pottery, “which formed a kind of sarcophagus.”
The animals were not discarded at random, but carefully placed in individual pits.
The magazine reported that a feline was placed on the wing of a large bird.
By consulting a veterinarian, Osypinska’s team was able to determine that several animals had diseases that would have killed them without human caregivers.
The remains of a dog suffering from bone cancer were found on a mat of palm leaves covered with an amphora, according to Archeology News Network.
Her belly still contained remains of fish and goat meat, her last meal.
Other canines lacked most of their teeth, had gum disease, or showed signs of joint degeneration.
“We have people with very limited mobility,” Osypinska said. “These animals had to be fed to survive, sometimes with special foods in the case of almost toothless animals.”
According to the report, the kind of devotion needed to breastfeed an old pet reveals that the people of Berenice had strong emotional ties to domesticated animals.
Archaeologists have discovered common animal tombs in Egypt before, but almost always creatures were sacrificed or revered, not treated as pets.
Dozens of mummified cats were found in 2018 on the edge of the King Userkaf pyramid complex in the ancient necropolis of Saqqara, south of Cairo.
Several years earlier a maze of sacred tunnels had been discovered in the same region, full of mummified remains of up to eight million dogs, some of whom only had hours when they were slaughtered.
Other canines were treated as living representatives of the dog-headed god Anubis, living life in the nearby temple before being preserved and rested in the network of tunnels.
The inhabitants of Berenike treated these animals as loving companions, Osypinska insists: “They did not do so for the gods or for any utilitarian benefit.”