Unwrapping the Ancient Egyptian Practice of Animal Mummification
Hyperallergic published a story on the science and cultural aspects of Egyptian animal mummification, specifically focusing on preservation:
The Conservation Laboratory’s staff often found that the more ostentatious the coffin’s exterior, the more likely the animal within would be nothing but rocks and dirt and maybe a bit of bone. The lion’s share of the animal mummies discovered from ancient Egypt are believed to have been votive offerings, as pet animals were only common among royalty, and animals considered divine and given human-like burials were also rare. The animals were messengers: dead souls who could travel in the afterlife and transport messages to the gods. A crocodile mummy might be offered to Sobek, often depicted with a crocodile head, while the incredible number of ibis mummies in herringbone wrappings or gilded sculptures might have been sent on mortal wings to Thoth, usually shown with as a part-man, part-ibis. A long bronze snake coffin whose slithering body curves up to a sculpted human head was likely a tribute to Atum, and a tiny shrew enshrined it its own metal sarcophagus was possibly a tribute to the sun-god Ra, whom the petite, pointy-nosed mammals served as guardians. A pair of dogs tightly coiled in interlaced linen, doleful eyes painted on their heads, may have been intended for Anubis. Sometimes, mummies of farm and game animals seem to have been sent into the afterlife as food for the deceased.
8-6-2021 (August 6, 2021) is the Snakiest day of the year and it’s also this year’s CircuitPython Day! The day highlights all things CircuitPython and Python on Hardware. See you there!
Stop breadboarding and soldering – start making immediately! Adafruit’s Circuit Playground is jam-packed with LEDs, sensors, buttons, alligator clip pads and more. Build projects with Circuit Playground in a few minutes with the drag-and-drop MakeCode programming site, learn computer science using the CS Discoveries class on code.org, jump into CircuitPython to learn Python and hardware together, TinyGO, or even use the Arduino IDE. Circuit Playground Express is the newest and best Circuit Playground board, with support for CircuitPython, MakeCode, and Arduino. It has a powerful processor, 10 NeoPixels, mini speaker, InfraRed receive and transmit, two buttons, a switch, 14 alligator clip pads, and lots of sensors: capacitive touch, IR proximity, temperature, light, motion and sound. A whole wide world of electronics and coding is waiting for you, and it fits in the palm of your hand.
Have an amazing project to share? The Electronics Show and Tell is every Wednesday at 7pm ET! To join, head over to YouTube and check out the show’s live chat – we’ll post the link there.
