Pictures: Bird Mummies "Fed" After Death, Stuffed With Snails

Wrapped in linen, this so-called sacred ibis—a hatchling housed at Montreal's McGill University—provided some of the first evidence that ancientEgyptians sent animal mummies on their final journeys fully fed, a new study says.

CT scans of the 2,500-year-old bird, one of four specimens used in the study, show that its body was packed with grains after death to sustain it in its afterlife mission as a messenger to the gods, according to findings published January 13 in the Journal of Archaeological Science.

"The ancient Egyptians intended to send this ibis to eternity with a full belly," the study team writes.

 

 

 

 

 

from http://news.nationalgeographic.com