Revised: August 19, 2011 Page 1 of 2

Royal Ontario MuseumDepartment of Museum Volunteers

Gallery Interpreters

Information Sheet

Animal Mummies – Cat SarcophagusHandling Instructions

Caution Level: DurableGI Handling: Naked HandVisitor Handling: Naked HandPackaging: NoneTransporting: Carry Bag RequiredReal or Reproduction: Reproduction

In late Egyptian times, animals, birds, and insects of certain species were mummified and given solemn burial out ofrespect for the gods that they represented. In this time, local nationalism became rampant. Each city had its ownpatron god or goddess, who was associated with an animal.

An animal was believed to be a favourite of its associated god or goddess. Thus, each animal, such at the cats onthe middle level of the display case, which came from a city where Bastet was the local goddess (she was cat-headed), became sacred in their own right, and had to be preserved.

Mummy Accession # Dated To

Cat 910.169.1 Roman, 100 AD

Cat 910.139.6 Roman, 100 AD

Coffin with Bones of a Kitten 910.17.51 Bronze, Late Period, c.300 BCWas available in the ROM Reproductions Shop as asculpture, and jewelley

Head of Coffin for a Kitten 910.17.49

There are also hawk mummies, crocodile mummies, as well as a gazelle and ibis bird. No real effort was made topreserve the body. They are elaborately wrapped, but only the head seems to have had some care given. Theseanimals, often wild, would have died in the wild. By the time that they were collected by some local guild responsiblefor their preservation, decomposition would have already set in, and only the head could be preserved.

Mummy Accession # Dated To

Hawk 972.51.60 From Saqqara, Ptolemaic, 323 B 330 BC

Hawk 910.169.9 Roman, c. 100 AD

Crocodile 910.169.2 Roman, C. 100 AD

Crocodile (small) 910.169.11 Late Period, c. 200 BC

Revised: August 19, 2011 Page 2 of 2

Mummy Accession # Dated To

Ibis bird 972.51.59 Figure of ThothWrappings only, mummy removed by ROM

Coffin for a baby Mongoose 971.165.37 Late Period, c. 300 BC

Coffin for a Hawk 910.180.a,b Faience, c. 400 BC

Coffin for an Ibis bird 956.180 Ptolemaic, 323 B 330 BCFrom Hermopolis? Bronze and gilded wood

Use the Museum Storytellers reproduction Cat Sarcophagus to illustrate animal mummies in the Egyptian Gallerybeside the Animal Mummies Display Case.

More About Bastet

Cats are very useful animals in a country that depends on grain. The cat's hunting instincts were honoured by theAncient Egyptians, but so was the cat's gentler side as a warm and loving mother to her kittens. Bastet can beshown as a woman with a feline head. There are disagreements among zoologists as to when these animals firstbegan to live with humans along the Nile, and about which feline became the Egyptian pet. Cats do not appear ashousehold pets during the Old Kingdom, though they were very popular animal companions in later times. Fromabout 3,200 years ago, there are cartoon-like images of cats and mice engaged in human activities; unfortunatelywe do not know the stories for these illustrations.

Also called Bast, or Ubasti, goddess worshipped in the form of a lioness, and later a cat. Bastet was an ancientdeity whose nature changed after the domestication of the cat around 1500 BC. In the Late Period, largecemeteries of mummified cats were created, and thousands of bronze statuettes of the goddess were deposited asvotive offerings. Small figures of cats were also worn as amulets; this too was probably related to the cult of Bastet.Bastet=s name is written with the hieroglyph sign of a sealed alabaster perfume jar, meaning >She of the PerfumeJar=.

Bastet is represented as a lioness or as a woman with a cat's head: she carries anancient percussion instrument, the sistrum, in her right hand; a so-called aegis, orbreastplate (in Bastet's case, surmounted with the head of a lioness), in her lefthand; and a small bag over her left arm. She wears an elaborately ornamenteddress. Her cult was carried to Italy by the Romans, and traces have been found inRome, Ostia, Nemi, and Pompeii.

Revised: May 5, 2008 Page1of1

Royal Ontario MuseumDepartment of Museum Volunteers

Gallery Interpreters

Bronze Cat Sarcophagus

Questions & Answers

1. Bronze Cat Sarcophagus

a. What shape does this remind you of? A cat.

b. Can you see something in the case that looks like this?

c. What do you think it=s made of? Copy in bronze powder, plastic resin. Original ahollow bronze.

d. What was inside it? Bones of a kitten.

e. Why put kitten bones in there?

f. Why were cats special for the ancient Egyptians? Associated with Bastet.

g. Were these the family pets? No.

h. What other kinds of animals were made into mummies?

i. Why were mummies made? Afterlife.

j. How were mummies made? Discuss mummies.

Revised: January 1, 2009 Page1of1

Royal Ontario MuseumDepartment of Museum Volunteers

Gallery Interpreter Program

Map of Ancient Egypt

Revised: January 26, 2006 Page 1 of 2

Royal Ontario MuseumDepartment of Museum Volunteers

Gallery Interpreters

Information Sheet

Chronology of Egyptian Cultural PeriodsPredynastic Period 4000 to 3100 BC

$ Egypt moved from the hunter and gatherer stage through the agricultural revolution to a unifiednation.

Archaic Period 3100 to 2686 BC

$ Egyptian belief grew that.the pharaoh is a god who lives among men.$ Upper and Lower Egypt are unified and the first capital is founded at Memphis.$ Calendar and hieroglyphic writing are developed.$ Narmer Pallette was made - see reproduction in the Gallery.

Old Kingdom 2686 to 2181 BC

$ Strong central monarchy centred around Egypt's divine rulers provided stable political structure.$ Remarkable flowering of architecture and art occurred.$ At beginning of period pharaoh, Djoser built the Step Pyramid at Saqqara, the first great royal

tomb of stone.$ In the 4th Dynasty, the Great Pyramid complex at Giza was erected.

First Intermediate Period 2181 to 2040 BC

$ Climatic change resulted in inadequate Nile floods, which produced widespread famine, economicdecline and social upheaval.

$ Central government was weakened and Egypt was disunited.$ Pyramids and estates were ransacked.

Middle Kingdom 2040 to 1674 BC

$ Mentuhotep II ushered in the Middle Kingdom by reuniting Egypt.$ Egyptian power expanded south into Nubia and east into the Sinai.$ Thebes became the new capital city under Mentuhotep II; later, the capital was moved back to the

area of Memphis.$ Period of artistic and literary splendour.

Second Intermediate Period 1674 to 1567 BC

$ Asiatic rulers, the Hyksos, gained control of Lower Egypt and Egyptian kings were forced togovern a diminished nation from Thebes.

Revised: January 26, 2006 Page 2 of 2

New Kingdom 1567 to 1085 BC

$ Hyksos were expelled and Egypt was reunited and ruled by a succession of warrior kings.$ Egyptian empire was expanded to its furthest reaches.$ Tribute from conquered nations provided great wealth, while contact with foreign cultures enriched

the work of Egyptian artists.$ Religious revolution briefly occurred during the reign of Pharaoh Akhenaten (1379-1362 BC) and

Queen Nefertiti, who instituted the worship of a single god, Aten.$ Elaborate tombs, such as that of King Tutankhamun (1334-1325 BC), were built in the Valley of

the Kings.$ Hatshepsut=s Punt Wall was created - see reproduction in the Galllery.$ Thurmose III wall painting was created - see reproduction in the Gallery.

Late Period 1085 BC to AD 324

$ Egypt was continuously invaded by Libyans, Nubians, Assyrians, Persians, Macedonians andRomans.

$ Despite political upheaval, Egyptians continued to cling to ancient cultural values, religion, andartistic traditions.

$ Victory Scarab of King Shebako was created - see the original in the Gallery.$ Bust of Cleopatra VII was created - see original in the Gallery.

Revised: January 26, 2006 Page 1 of 5

Royal Ontario MuseumDepartment of Museum Volunteers

Gallery Interpreters

Information Sheet

Mummies and Mummification - Get an Afterlife!1. None During the Old Kingdom!!

There are no mummy specimens in the ROM=s Collections that would illustrate mummificationpractices during the Old Kingdom. However, the ROM=s Egyptian Gallery has three excellentspecimens from other time periods.

Practices are well-known during the Pre-Dynastic period, and visitors can see a Pre-Dynasticmummy specimen at the entrance to the ROM=s Egyptian Gallery.

Most visitors will be most familiar with mummies as they have been found from the New KingdomPeriod and later - preserved or mummified, in decorated coffins. The other two specimens comefrom the Late Period.

2. Why Mummify?

The Egyptians believed that the body had to be preserved in order for the deceased to enjoy anafterlife. This afterlife was first sought by the pharaohs and then by millions of people. Untilabout 1000 BC, mummification was virtually confined to the wealthy, but gradually it became moredemocratic, until nearly everyone had some cursory form of the art performed after death.Mummification reached its greatest technical height about 950 BC.

The physical body was a person=s khat. The ka, often called the spirit, was the individual =sdoppelgänger (double), endowed with all of the person=s qualities and faults. It=s uncertain wherethe ka resided in life, but Ato go the one=s ka@ was a euphemism for death. The ka wasrepresented symbolically by two upstretched human arms. The ka symbolized power andprosperity. After death, it could eat, drink, and >enjoy the odour of incense=. It had to be fed; itgave comfort and protection to the deceased. The close connection between the ka and itsessential food supplies can be gauged by the fact that in Egyptian, the plural of the word kameans sustenance. The ka could not leave the tomb complex.

After death, part of the life force of a person became a little human-headed falcon spirit called theba, often called the soul. This ba could travel all over the world, and visit the places it had loved inlife. However, it could become weary and hungry, and had to be able to return to the body to rest.If the body had been destroyed, it could still survive by resting in a statue or painting of thedeceased, or even upon the writing of his or her name. It was the ba which anxiously witnessedthe weighing of its master=s heart - described below. While difficult to categorize, perhaps it canbe said that the ba embodied the characteristics or personality of a person - the individual traitsthat distinguished one person from all other human beings.

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The crested ibis represented pictorially a person=s akh or immortality. This most unearthly ofspirits severed all ties with the mortal remains in order to join the cold and imperishable stars.

3. Development of Mummification Practices

a. Pre-Dynastic Burial - Natural Mummification

The earliest burials were a pit grave dug in the desert sands.

The deceased was folded into a sleeping, fetal position, covered with reed mats, andburied in the sand, facing west towards the land of the afterlife.

The deceased was surrounded by a few prized possessions, and it was believed thatthese could be taken into the next world.

These possessions could include pots or vessels containing grain, beer, precious oils,and so forth; and tools that might be useful in the next life - the Egyptians believed thatpeople needed possessions and nourishment in death as in life.

The hot, dry sand acted as a desiccating agent to dry out and preserve the body - anatural form of mummification. Water constitutes 75% of the body by weight, and withoutit, bacteria cannot breed and cause decay.

b. Progression Over Time to an Artificial Mummification

Civilization brings more complex ways of doing things. Graves began to be lined withwood, brick and stone. Bodies were wrapped in cloth or encased in a coffin.

This additional care of the body had drawbacks though. Stone and wood shut out air andsand - the body no longer dried out and would decompose.

The Egyptians resorted to artificial means of preserving the body - artificial mummificationor embalming. The word embalm comes from the Latin words meaning >to put intoaromatic resins=, quite an accurate description because bodies were anointed withunguents, resins and oils.

c. The Artificial Process

This process took 70 days to complete. It was very important to preserve the face.

i. Through an abdominal incision, the abdominal organs were removed. Majororgans were preserved - liver, lungs, stomach and intestines.

The heart was left in the body, or returned to the body - it was thought to be theseat of wisdom, intelligence, memory, bravery, sadness, and love - any damageto it would result in a >second death=, in which the ka, ba, akh, and other essentialattributes would be destroyed.

The heart was important at the beginning of an afterlife, used in the AWeighing ofthe Heart@ ceremony, supervised by the god Thoth. After the deceased haddescribed the many sins NOT committed (a negative confession), the heart wasweighed against the ostrich feather of maat (against what was deemed right andtrue). The heart had to prove that it could achieve balance with the symbol of law,as a test of conformity to proper values. If judged pure, the deceased was

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introduced to the god Osiris (and in fact became an Osiris). If judged a failure,the deceased was given to Anmit, the >eater of the dead= or the >devourer ofsouls=.

Quartz tools were used in the >Opening of the Mouth= ritual.

The brain was thought to be useless, and was removed and discarded. The brainwas removed by using a special tool with a hook on the end, to break through theseptum of the nose (usually the left septum); an oily acid was inserted, and thebrain was pulled out with the hook.

Other preserved organs were housed in special vessels called canopic jars. Foursuch canopic jars were used; the lid shape identified the organ found inside. Thispractice changed during the New Kingdom and Late Periods - the organs couldbe placed back inside the abdominal cavity, or could be placed in the canopicjars. See the Information Sheet Canopic Jars for more information.

ii. The abdominal cavity was stuffed with linen rags, straw and other vegetablefibres. For 40 days, the interior and exterior of the body were saturated withnatron (a compound of sodium carbonate and sodium bicarbonate, much likebaking soda, properly called thermonatrite), which dehydrated the body, dissolvedthe body fats, and left the skin supple but not tender. Use of natron had beenlearned by the early Middle Kingdom, around 2000 BC.

We use sodium bicarbonate today to settle upset stomachs!!

Natron was found in abundance throughout Egypt, but large deposits formedalong the edges of the lakes in the Wadi Natrun, forty miles north-west of Cairo.It formed as water evaporated during the retreat of the flooded Nile River. Thisleft shallow lakes that eventually dried to leave mineral deposits like natron.

Natron is also mildly antiseptic. The Egyptians also used natron as a ritualpurifier. Priests even chewed pellets of natron during religious ceremonies.

At one time, there was a widespread belief that mummies were prepared withbitumen, which was supposed to have medicinal value. The Arabic word forbitumen is >mummiya=, from which the word mummy is derived. Throughout theEuropean Middle Ages, >mummy=, made by pounding mummified bodies, was astandard product in apothecary shops. Over the course of time, it was forgottenthat the virtue of mummy lay in the bitumen, and generic >mummy= was madefrom the bodies of felons and suicides. The use of mummy continued in Europeuntil the 1700's. The whole concept of the use of bitumen was amisunderstanding. Badly embalmed bodies of the Late Period (after 600 BC)were filled with molten resin which impregnated the very bones. It was theirblackened and brittle appearance which suggested that they had been dipped inbitumen, and the ease with which they burnt seemed to confirm it.

iii. After drying, the stuffing was removed from the abdominal cavity. It was stuffedagain with rags soaked in melted resin, and then anointed with fats scented withmyrrh, cedar, cinnamon and other fragrances. The skin was lubricated with oil.

Lotus, cinnamon, and cedar fragrances represent the notions of life and death.

Revised: January 26, 2006 Page 4 of 5

The beautiful lotus flower symbolized creation and new life. Cedar and cinnamonwere combined, and used in the mummification process to represent death andthe afterlife.

Lotus, cedar, and cinnamon also played a central role in religious ritual, whichinvolved lavish offerings of costly perfumes, huge floral bouquets, and thickclouds of burning sweet incense. Fragrance bridged the gap between the mortaland divine worlds. The same idea can also be found in funerary rituals, whichwere designed to revive the dead by reawakening their senses, the sense ofsmell restored with the perfumes used in daily life and regarded as so essential inthe afterlife.

Lotus oil was considered to be an aphrodisiac, and was a favourite fragrance forEgyptian priestesses. One wonders what those girls were getting up to!! Thelotus was used in medicinal preparations to treat liver disease. The oil was usedto reduce temperatures. Lotus leaves steeped in oil, and placed on the head of a>hated woman= made her hair fall out. Lotus was associated with the godNefertum. His name means >perfection=, and he was usually depicted in humanform with a huge lotus flower crown, or as a small child crouched on a lotusflower. Nefertum was regarded as the >protector of the two lands=.

Nefertum=s mother was the cat goddess Bastet, whose name is written with thehieroglyph sign of a sealed alabaster perfume jar, meaning >She of the PerfumeJar=.

Cedar has a dry woody smell which blends well with cinnamon. Cedar=s resinyfragrance acted as an insect repellent, and is still an ingredient today in manyinsect repellents. It was used as a wrinkle treatment, to treat swelling, and as amassage oil. It was used to anoint the statues of the gods during daily templerituals, and was important in funerary rites, where it was used to anoint themummy. It was imported from Lebanon - hence, the cedars of Lebanon. We stilluse cedar wood to line storage chests.

Cinnamon has a spicy, sharp, sweet scent which blends well with cedar.Cinnamon was mixed with many other things to produce perfumes, but care wasneeded to make sure that the cinnamon did not overpower. Even after thousandsof years, when you open a mummy case, you can smell the cinnamon.Cinnamon was used as an aphrodisiac - the oil was sprinkled over beds and thewood burnt to scent both the clothes and the surroundings. As a strongantiseptic, cinnamon was used in medicinal preparations for massage oils, footoils, and remedies for gum ulcers. Cinnamon oil was also used in themummification process. We still use cinnamon in cooking today, or as a flavourenhancer.

Nasal passages were closed, and the eyes were padded with linen.

During the 21st and 22nd Dynasties ONLY, packing was introduced under the skinof the arms and legs while the skin was still soft.

iv. Layer upon layer of resin-soaked linen strips wrapped the mummy. Amulets,scarabs (carvings of scarab or dung beetles), and jewellery were placed betweenthe layers. The entire body surface was coated with liquid resin to seal pores andoffer protection from moisture.

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v. Final layers of linen wrapping were applied. During the wrapping, priests wouldintone appropriate chapters from the Book of the Dead (a collection of formulae,prayers, and hymns designed to facilitate travel in the next world).

vi. The last sentence of the mummification ceremony said, AYou live again, you liveagain forever, here you are young once more forever@.

vii. Further amulets might be placed on various parts of the body for protectionagainst evil.

viii. The mummy would be placed in some form of coffin.

Revised: October 3, 2007 Page1of2

Royal Ontario MuseumDepartment of Museum Volunteers

Gallery Interpreters

Information Sheet

Natron1. Natron

Handling Instructions

Caution Level: ToxicGI Handling: Never TouchVisitor Handling: Never TouchPackaging: Plastic Bottle (2 available)Transporting: Carry Bag OptionalReal or Reproduction: Real

What Is It?

Natron - also called thermonatrite - is a sedimentary rock (but very soft) composed of a mixture of the mineralshydrous sodium carbonate and sodium bicarbonate.

What Does It Look Like?

Natron is a course-grained, whitish-gray material. Our specimen is housed in a sealed box since it dries outhuman skin very quickly.

Where Does It Come From?

Source of our specimen is Ragtown Lake, Nevada, USA. It is NOT from Egypt - the only Egyptian specimen in theROM=s Collections is in storage in Curatorial.

How Does It Form?

Natron forms as a sedimentary rock - forming from the evaporation of water.

It was found in abundance throughout Egypt. It formed as water evaporated during the retreat of the flooded NileRiver. This left shallow lakes that eventually dried to leave deposits like natron.

Interesting Facts and Uses

In ancient Egypt, natron was used as a desiccating agent in the mummification process. As part of the 70 daymummification process, bodies spent 40 days >in the natron =.

In traditional glass-making, natron was essential - it made the quartz easier to melt.

Today, we use sodium bicarbonate to relieve stomach upsets. Ironic that it also mummifies!!

Revised: October 3, 2007 Page2of2

Where Is It In The Galleries?

No specimen can be found. Use the specimen in the Egyptian Gallery to illustrate the mummificationprocess. Use it the Currelly Gallery near the Canopic Jars.

Natron - near Lake Chad, Africa

Revised: January 26, 2006 Page1of1

Royal Ontario MuseumDepartment of Museum Volunteers

Gallery Interpreters

Natron

Questions & Answers

1. Natron

a. How were the organs preserved? Natron.

b. What does natron do? Drying agent.

c. Why is this natron in a sealed box? So you don=t start to mummify!!

d. What is natron made of? Sodium carbonate and sodium bicarbonate.

e. Do you ever get an upset tummy or heartburn? What settles your tummy?Sodium bicarbonate.

f. Why were mummies made? Afterlife.

g. How were mummies made? Discuss mummies.