Archaeologists discover an ancient 'scandal' in Egyptian mummy-making

Archaeologists discover an ancient 'scandal' in Egyptian mummy-making
(Image credit: Twitter.com/BBC News)

Many animal mummies may be nothing more than empty bundles of cloth.

Researchers at the University of Manchester analyzed 800 ancient Egyptian animal mummies and found that as many as a third of them were filled with cloth. Another third only contained partial animal remains, such as eggshells and feathers, the X-rays and CT scans revealed. Just one-third of the animal mummy specimens from the Manchester Museum contained complete animal remains.

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Meghan DeMaria

Meghan DeMaria is a staff writer at TheWeek.com. She has previously worked for USA Today and Marie Claire.