Archaeologists found a "headless five-legged" mummy, which contained three cats, five legs and no head

The ancient Egyptians had a special relationship with cats. They not only liked cats, but also worshiped them as gods. Not only did they love cats when they were alive, but they also mummified cats and buried them with them after their death. Recently, French archaeologists scanned a 2,500-year-old cat mummy and discovered that it had "headless and five legs" inside.

Cat mummies are very common. Researchers have previously discovered dozens of cat mummies in a tomb. Some of these mummified cats were pets of the deceased during his lifetime, and some may have been specially used for mummification. In fact, it was very common for the ancient Egyptians to mummify animals. According to documentary records, historians speculate that about 70 million animals were mummified. People are full of curiosity about what the mummies contained.

The cat mummy scanned this time was stored in Archaeologists used computer X-ray scanning to conduct a comprehensive inspection of a collection of the Museum of Fine Arts in Rennes, France. Without opening the mummy, they could clearly see the items inside the layers of the mummy. They then used 3D technology and 3D printing technology to draw a perspective view of the cat mummy. From the perspective view, there is no cat head in the mummy, instead it is a ball of cloth.

In addition to the absence of a skull, the researchers also found no vertebrae or ribs. After careful inventory, they found that the mummies actually contained five hind legs belonging to three cats. The bones were not well preserved and had many holes left by insects.

Nicholas, the leader of the research, said: "There are a very large number of cat mummies, some of which have been scanned. As far as the current situation is concerned, the bones in most cat mummies are incomplete, and some are even empty, and this is often intentional. "

Animal mummies were once regarded as sacred sacrifices. Larger ones were more popular and often sold for higher prices. Therefore, animal mummies are usually much larger than the original size of the animal, and either no animal remains are placed inside, or they are filled with some worthless materials.

As for the cat mummies scanned this time, it is still unclear why the cat mummies have the configuration of "three cats without heads and five legs". Some researchers believe that this may be related to witchcraft beliefs, while others believe that this is the result of "forgery and counterfeiting", using the cat shape on the outside to "mask and cover up" the fact that the interior is hollow. Nicholas believes that this is one of the various methods of making animal mummies.

In October, this scanned cat mummy was exhibited at the 2019 European Cultural Heritage Days event. Now it has returned to the exhibition hall of the Rennes Museum of Fine Arts in France. Next to it, the museum has added its transparent 3D printed model, and projected the internal structure of the cat mummy on it. Visitors can clearly see a ball of cloth and five cat leg bones.

What do you think the "cat" mummy represents? Welcome to leave messages and share.