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[[File: Apis_Bull.jpg|300px|thumbnail|left|Statue of the Apis Bull]]

Most people are aware of the ancient Egyptian practice of mummification. The practice has inspired wonder and awe among people from all over the world in the millennia since pharaonic culture ceased to exist. Although there has yet to be a “mummy handbook” discovered that relates the precise details of the art, modern archaeology, art history, and the writings of the fifth century BC Greek historian, Herodotus, have allowed modern scholars the ability to reasonably determine how the ancient Egyptians mummified their dead. Despite having uncovered many of the mysteries of <i>human</i> mummification, modern scholars are still learning a lot about the art of <i>animal</i> mummification. Most people may not know that the ancient Egyptians mummified certain species of animals, some of which included the following: bovines, birds, cats, dogs, and even crocodiles. An investigation of animal worship and mummification in ancient Egypt reveals that it did not happen overnight and did not necessarily develop alongside human mummification, but was the end result of a long process whereby non-royal Egyptians began taking a more active role in their long-enduring country’s religion.

===Mummification and Animal Worship in Ancient Egypt===

The concept of divine animals is not unique to ancient Egypt, but, similar to their application of the mummification process, the Egyptians made animal worship into a science. Although it may seem a bit confusing to most modern people, the ancient Egyptians actually had two philosophies regarding divine animals that were not mutually exclusive. The priestly view was that only one particular animal was viewed as divine. The best example of this is the legendary Apis Bull, which will be discussed more thoroughly below. The belief held by the majority of ancient Egyptians, though, was that <i>all</i> animals of a specific species were divine. For instance, the peasants toiling in the fields would have viewed every ibis they saw as an earthly incarnation of the ibis headed god of wisdom and writing, Thoth. <ref> Hornung, Erik. <i>Conceptions of God in Ancient Egypt: The One and the Many.</i> Translated by John Baines. (Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press, 1996), p. 137</ref> The people would have applied the same concept to other animals with a divine counterpart as well: Bastet would have been seen in all cats; Anubis in all dogs and other canines; Sobek in every crocodile, etc. For most of pharaonic history, the two concepts remained apart, but never competing, until Egypt entered into what is today known as the “Late Period” at the beginning of the First Millennium BC. During that time, Egypt was the unfortunate recipient of wave after wave of foreign invaders who made cosmetic changes to the political structure, but affected little change in its religion. With that said, the popular concept of divine animals gradually began to replace the priestly view. By the third century BC, when the Greek Ptolemaic Dynasty ruled Egypt, not only were all animals of a specific species viewed as divine, but their worship became highly organized. .<ref> Sadek, Ashraf Iskander. <i>Popular Religion in Egypt During the New Kingdom.</i> (Hildesheim: Gerstenberg Verlag, 1988), p. 275</ref> And as mummification played a key role in ancient Egyptian religion in general, it would go on to be a vital aspect of animal worship in the Late Period.

The worship of the Apis Bull followed the priestly pattern discussed above – there was only one Apis Bull alive at a time. Herodotus and the first century BC Greek historian/geographer, Strabo, both were fortunate enough to observe the bull first hand when they traveled throughout Egypt. After an Apis Bull died, it was mummified in the same manner as a human and then placed in its subterranean resting place in the Serapeum. The priests would then travel throughout the country to find its replacement, which had to have very specific markings. Herodotus wrote:

“The Apis-calf has distinctive marks: it is black, with a white diamond on its forehead, the image of an eagle on its back, the hairs on its tail double, and a scarab under its tongue.” <ref> Herodotus. <i> The Histories.</i> Translated by Aubrey de Sélincourt. (London: Penguin Books, 2003), Book II, 29</ref>

===The Animal Necropolises at Saqqara===

The ancient Egyptian art of mummification is of one that culture’s most defining attributes in the modern world. The ancient Egyptians preserved the bodies of their kings, queens, and anyone else who could afford the process, through mummification, but they also mummified the animals they believed were divine in the latter centuries of their history. Animal mummification can be linked directly to the evolution that took place in ancient Egyptian religion whereby the majority of the population began to take a more active role in worship. Once more and more Egyptians became involved in the animal cults, then more and more animal mummies were donated by followers to the Saqqara animal necropolises. The animal cults and animal mummification continued to play a major role in Egypt until Christianity became the dominant religion.