3 ms·
Searching for Imhoteps tomb led to finding 1½ million ibis birds interred
- pyinstallwoes 4y agoThat does not compute at all for me. Can someone help reason about this? From wikipedia: > From 1964 to 1971, Bryan Emery excavated at Saqqara in search of Imhotep's tomb; instead, the extensive catacombs of animal mummies were uncovered. Apparently it was a pilgrimage site, with as many as 1½ million ibis birds interred (as well as cats, dogs, rams, and lions). This 2nd-century BC site contained extensive pottery debris from the site offerings of the pilgrims. > Emery's excavations uncovered the "Dream Ostraca", created by a scribe named Hor of Sebennytos. A devotee of the god Thoth, he lived adjacent to Thoth's sanctuary at the entrance to the North Catacomb and worked as a "proto-therapist", advising and comforting clients. He transferred his divinely-inspired dreams onto ostraca. The Dream Ostraca are 65 Demotic texts written on pottery and limestone. A pilgramage? Why...? It seems more like a significant die-off event or experimentation in relation to research. Isn't that a LOT of birds and other animals? Why would a pilgrimage make any sense?