Basic Information
An Animal Mummy is a mummified corpse of an animal. Ancient Egypt made a ton of these. In rough order from most to least common, they are:
- Ibis (sacred to Thoth, and mummified by the millions. Enough to make you wonder if there was an Egyptian sacred ibis farm somewhere)
- Cat (sacred to Bastet, and buried in mass graves.)
- Baboon (sacred to Thoth again. Often placed in Canopic Jars.)
- Crocodile (sacred to Sebek)
- Fish, especially Nile Perch (sacred to Neith)
- Mongoose or Shrew (sacred to Horus)
- Dog or Jackal (sacred to Anubis)
- Birds of assorted types (sacred to Horus)
- Snake or Eel (sacred to Atum)
- Scarab Beetle (sacred to Cherpera)
- Bull (sacred to Apis)
As implied above, animal sacrifice was often done to invoke or worship particular gods or ask for divine intervention in exchange for an offering of an animal mummy. Ibises and cats were sacrificed and mummified on a huge scale, so it's likely there was a thriving industry or demand for these well-preserved divine bribes.
Other reasons for mummifying an animal include ensuring that a beloved pet can join you in the afterlife, or ensuring you have a renewable food source in said afterlife. Ancient Egypt existed as a culture for thousands of years, so it's likely that exact reasoning and motivations changed from generation to generation.
Sources
Game and Story Use
- In settings where the gods have real power and interfere in the lives of mortals, an animal mummy could be a potent treasure, ritual tool, or magic item.
- An undead animal mummy could make for an interesting familiar for a wizard, necromancer, or priest.
- Or they could be a monster of the week or guard a tomb. I'm reminded of H.P.Lovecraft's Cats of Ulthar.
- A major ritual, magical work, or temple dedication might require a huge number of animal mummies.
- Rats over-run the city because all the neighborhood cats go missing, having been poisoned and mummified by some ne'er-do-well who's trying to alienate Bastet and bring her wrath down upon the city. The missing pets become a clue-trail for the PCs to find this villain.
- Perhaps a sub-plot or red herring brings the PCs knocking on the subterranean door of the local were-rat, since his kind seem to be benefitting from the lack of cats.
- Rats over-run the city because all the neighborhood cats go missing, having been poisoned and mummified by some ne'er-do-well who's trying to alienate Bastet and bring her wrath down upon the city. The missing pets become a clue-trail for the PCs to find this villain.
- A shop that sells animal mummies could be an interesting contact for the PCs. "Let's go get occult advice from our friendly neighborhood dead-animal-specialist."