Dozens of cat mummies found in 6,000-year-old tombs

Photograph: Khaled Desouki/AFP/Getty Images

Cats held a special place in ancient Egypt and were mummified as religious offerings. An Egyptian archaeological mission recently unearthed dozens of cat mummies as well as 100 wooden, gilded statues of cats and one in bronze dedicated to the cat goddess Bastet. Also discovered at the site on the edge of the pyramid complex in Saqqara, south of Cairo, was a rare collection of mummified scarab beetles.

Photograph: Nariman El-Mofty/AP

More:  The Guardian