Egyptian Cats Received Royal Treatment
From Times Staff and Wire Reports
Ancient Egyptians revered cats and other animals and took as much care in preserving them as they did with humans, British experts reported in Nature.
Researchers had believed that the Egyptians simply wrapped the animals in coarse linen bandages and dipped them in preservatives. But archeologists from the University of Bristol found that the preserved cats contained traces of beeswax, petroleum bitumen, tree resin, pistacia, cedar resins and vegetable oil -- all of which were used on human mummies.
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