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The Case of the Fraudulent Falcon
We are all familiar with human mummification, but what
about animal mummification The Egyptians were just as
skilled at this practice. The animals whose torso was mummified
included baboons, bulls, scarabs, falcons, jackals, raptors,
snakes, ibises, shrews, crocodiles, gazelles, rams, perch,
cats and dogs.
There were three reasons for mummifying animal torsos.
Each satisfied a spiritual/psychological need. The creature
was a favorite pet, it was a sacred animal or it was used for a
votive offering. If the pet predeceased its owner, it was mummified
and saved until the death of its master. If the master
died first the pet was mummified when it died and then placed
in the tomb. In the second scenario, sacred animals, like bulls,
were mummified and interred in special cemeteries, particularly
at Saqqara. The last instance involves mummifying animals
to be placed as offerings in catacomb-like chambers at
temples. This reason was the most common. It parallels the
practice of some Christians in placing votive candles. The In addition to the human
decline of animal and human mummification coincided with mummy, Pesed, Westminster
Collegeʼs Cultural Ar-
the spread of Christianity in the third century.
The Egyptians were also concerned with the physical tifacts Collection includes
needs of the deceased. This was partially satisfied through animal mummies as well.
a different form of mummification: that of ducks, geese and Above, from left to right,
various cuts of meat, i.e., chops, ribs, steaks, etc. They even a crocodile, a falcon and
went to the extreme of fabricating miniature coffins in the a kitten. At right, x-rays of
shape of the fowl or cut of meat.
two genuine falcons and a
The procedure for animal torsos was essentially the same fraudulent one.
as for humans. Large numbers of animals were required
to meet the demand. Evidence indicates that 10,000 birds were mummified annually.
Putting a Face on History
College hoping CT scan will reveal face of 2,300-year-old mummy
Pesed, the Egyptian mummy who has called Westminster College home for the past 120 years, recently
underwent a CT scan that scientists are hoping will provide enough information to allow a forensic
artist to construct a bust of her, revealing at long last what the 2,300-year-old mummy looked like.
The mummy has been the property of Westminster since the Rev. John Griffin, an Egyptian missionary
and a Westminster alumnus, gave her to the school in 1885. Pesed was taken to College Fields MRI
in Neshannock Township for a CT scan, during which computers produced images of half-millimeterthick
slices of her entire body. The 2,500 images will allow forensic artist Frank Bender to sculpt the
bust, a process that normally takes weeks.
“This is a chance to get to know her better,” said Jonathan Elias, of the Akhmim Mummy
Studies Consortium, which paid for the CT scans. Researchers have already pieced
together some biographical details about the woman, who was mummified between
300 and 220 B.C. CT scans and X-rays conducted in August 2001 revealed that Pesed
was a 55- to 65-year-old woman who had osteoporosis at the time of her death. They
also revealed abscesses along her jaw, which could indicate that she had an infection
that could have led to malnutrition or death.
During this round of scans, Elias also plans to focus on an amulet tucked under
Pesedʼs left armpit, which researchers found during the last scan four years ago.
The scans will allow him to take a closer look at the small metal charm without
disrupting the mummyʼs wrap. Egyptians, who believed the body transcended into
the afterlife, placed charms on the body to cure wearersʼ maladies, Elias said.
The placement of the charm under Pesedʼs arm might indicate that she suffered a
chronic pain in that area, he said.
Some of the animals were
farm-raised for this purpose,
while others were
captured. Raptors are very
difficult to raise in captivity,
making them in short
supply. As a result, Egyptian
entrepreneurs began
counterfeiting raptors to
sell to religious pilgrims.
The bogus raptor mummies
were filled with rags,
old bones or other debris.
Dr. Joseph Raught, a
local veterinarian, volunteered
his services to x-
ray the Collegeʼs animal
mummies. We discovered
that one falcon may be
fraudulent (x-ray, right).
Two other falcons appear
to be genuine. The other
animal mummies in the
collection—cat, kitten and
crocodile—appear to be
bona fide.
(Source:
animalmummies.com)
6 Summer 2005 • Westminster College Magazine