9/25/2023 0 Comments Mythical elephant predators![]() In fact, mummified cats are sometimes found buried with, or close to, their owners. Some tomb scenes show cats sitting below their owner’s chair, giving the sense that at some time they were seen as beloved family pets. In this blog, we take a closer look at some of the most sacred animals of ancient Egypt.Ĭats are depicted in tomb scenes as early as the Old Kingdom (over 4600 years ago) and it is in this context that we first see their domestication. The crocodile was said to be the god of water and could act as a symbol of pharaonic power and strength, whereas the ibis was believed to be the patron of writing and scribes. Other animals that were feared by ancient Egyptians, such as crocodiles and hippopotami, were revered and worshipped in order to protect them from their wrath. Large cats such as cheetahs and lions were kept as exotic pets and were emblems of royalty. The most well-known of these is probably the cat, which has its domestic origins in ancient Egypt. Therefore, displaying their deities in the forms of animals, with particular characteristics, demonstrated what they believed about each god or goddess's nature.Ī whole host of animals played important roles. These included strength, the ability to ward off predators, protective nature, nurturing characteristics and connections to rebirth. Whether as deities, pets, symbols of fertility, or objects of fear, protection and luck, animals played a significant role in both royal and non-royal life in ancient Egypt, featuring heavily in everyday secular and religious activities.Īnimals often had attractive qualities that the ancient Egyptians perhaps admired and wanted to emulate. Inspired? Contact our team to meet elephants on your next family holiday, or view all our wildlife and nature holidays.Discover how animals were worshipped in ancient Egypt as gods and goddesses, their sacred meanings, and why these creatures were revered so highly by the Egyptian people. Regular mud baths protect the elephant’s skin from burning, insect bites and moisture loss.Recent molecular based classifications have bizarrely found that the elephant’s closest living relative is the Hyrax.They have human-like emotions, feeling loss, grieving and even crying.Elephants can hear another one trumpeting up to six miles away.Elephants are also very inquisitive when they come across the bones of another elephant, often picking them up and carrying them for a while. Often these are places that the elephants have travelled to in the hope of a greater chance of survival. Elephant Graveyards, where supposedly large groups of elephants travel to die, are a myth but they are backed up by natural behaviour.Asian elephants are endangered and African elephants are considered vulnerable.Their biggest killers are humans, who poach them for their ivory tusks Elephants follow greeting ceremonies when a member of the group returns after a long time, and they can hug by wrapping their trunks together.They use the 100,000 muscles in their trunk to sense the size, shape and temperature of an object.An adult elephant can eat 300lbs of food in one day!.They have the longest pregnancy out of all mammals at 22 months long.Elephants are either right or left tusked!.Their brain is three or four times larger than a human’s.They are the only mammal that can’t jump. ![]()
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