Mar 10, 2021 07:00:00

A 2000-year-old 'pet grave' where 585 cats, dogs and other animals were buried is discovered

Humans have been breeding animals for a long time, such as the

discovery of a dog buried in the remains of the Jomon period in Japan, and the discovery of a 'dog with a small bell on a collar' buried 2000 years ago in France. A lot of evidence has been found. In Berenike , located on the eastern tip of Egypt, a new 'pet grave' was discovered about 2000 years ago, in which 585 animals were buried.

Full article: ANCIENT PETS. The health, diet and diversity of cats, dogs and monkeys from the Red Sea port of Berenice (Egypt) in the 1st-2nd centuries AD
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00438243.2020.1870545

World's oldest'pet cemetery' discovered in ancient Egypt | Live Science

https://www.livescience.com/oldest-pet-cemetery-ancient-egypt.html

Berenike is home to the ruins of a port town about 2000 years ago. The newly discovered pet grave was discovered by accident while investigating the ruins of Berenike. There were a total of 585 animals buried, including 'cats: 536', 'dogs: 32', 'monkeys: 15', 'foxes: 1', and 'hayabusa: 1'.

It is known that

ancient Egypt had a culture of mummifying and burying countless animals as offerings to the gods. However, the body of the animal discovered this time is thought to have been bred as a pet because it was carefully buried in a pottery sword.

Marta Osypińska , a zooarchaeologist at the Polish Academy of Sciences, said of the remains of the animals found: 'These animals may have been kept to help hunt or exterminate rats.' It states. In addition, when analyzing the skeletons of the found animals, the skeleton of the cat was found to be deformed and the skeleton of the cat was thought to be inconvenient to walk. They were fed and kept as pets. '

In addition, fish bones and scales were found in the abdomen of buried dogs and cats. Osypińska believes that the bones and scales of these fish were stuffed into the abdomen at the time of burial 'to fill the stomach.'

Besides, the body of a cat with a collar ...

Burials have been found that indicate that the animals were kept as pets, such as the 'beaded necklace' that was buried with the cat.

In addition, a piece of pottery with a message such as 'The owner does not have to worry because someone else is taking care of it' was found. 'Many scholars believe that there was no concept of pets 2000 years ago, but this finding shows that humans and animals were deeply intertwined in Egypt 2000 years ago,' said Osypińska. It states. 'Belenik was an empty port at the end of the world. Merchants probably survived a long journey with their pets,' he speculates as to why the pet grave was set up in Berenike.