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Clean-Parsley-5739 t1_jdttnut wrote

Reply to comment by DontBeADramaLlama in Over 2,000 Mummified Sheep Heads Unearthed In Egypt Temple by cargo_run_rust

Herodotus had this to say of Egypt in book 2 chapter 67 of his histories
Dead cats are taken away to sacred buildings in the town of Bubastis, where they are embalmed and buried; female dogs are buried by the townsfolk in their own towns in sacred coffins; and the like is done with mongooses. Shrewmice and hawks are taken away to Buto, ibises to the city of Hermes. 2.67.2 There are few bears, and the wolves are little bigger than foxes; both these are buried wherever they are found lying.

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cargo_run_rust OP t1_jdu5kx7 wrote

>Dead cats are taken away to sacred buildings in the town of Bubastis, where they are embalmed and buried; female dogs are buried by the townsfolk in their own towns in sacred coffins; and the like is done with mongooses. Shrewmice and hawks are take

Interesting. Never knew about Bubastis when I visited Egypt. Thought that Serapeum of Saqqara was the largets animal tomb,.
Did Herodotus mention why this was done?

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-_---------------- t1_jdu7ewt wrote

Also immediately thought of this part. I remember translating this in my second to final year of high school in Greek class.

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