Label TextThis mummified ibis is one of millions of animal mummies that were dedicated at Egyptian temples from the first millennium B.C. through the fourth century A.D. The Egyptians believed that these votive offerings would convey their prayers to the gods in perpetuity. Ibis mummies were dedicated to Thoth, the god of wisdom and literacy, who was often represented with the head of an ibis. This mummy was buried in a large ibis cemetery at Abydos that was excavated under the auspices of the Egypt Exploration Fund between 1912 and 1914. The decorative pattern of its wrappings, formed with contrasting strips of dyed and undyed linen, is typical of ibis mummies from this site.
In 2017 the Museum partnered with the Department of Radiology at UT Health San Antonio and the staff of the San Antonio Zoo to study the animal mummies in the collection. Non-invasive imaging, including X-ray images and CT scans, revealed the contents of each mummy without damaging its fragile wrappings. This mummy’s X-ray shows the position of the well-preserved ibis remains: the bird’s long, curved beak fills the narrow end of the bundle, the skull is between the wing bones, and the bent legs form the bundle’s wide end.
(Jessica Powers, 2019)