Ancient Egyptian Pets.





What kind of animals made good ancient Egyptian pets? There were many kinds, but only one had the honour of being named like their human owners. Can you guess which one? The answer is at the bottom.

Birds

* Falcons - these pet birds were important because of their religious significance.

* Geese - these honking bird version of a watchdog were popular with nobles.

* Other bird pets include ducks and turtle doves.

Unusual pets

* Gazelles - in the modern world it would seem an unlikely furry friend to have curled at your feet by the fire. But the mummified remains of gazelles and paintings suggest that they were much loved pets to some in the ancient world.

* Lions - for these guys to be pets the Egyptians would surely have had to take out their claws and teeth. It would appear they were more a pet for royalty to have slinking around the palatial grounds.

* Monkeys - These guys are pets in certain countries but most would consider them more of a wild creature than something to be kept on a leash. Which is how the Egyptians kept them. They were a popular choice of pet because of their intelligence and ability to train and be entertaining.

* Mongoose - These agile little guys were probably employed in hunting trips.

Cats

These guys were undoubtedly popular pets. Many a tomb painting has shown the humble moggy curled up under the chair of their owner. Most of the time they were owned by women.

We also know just how important these feline friends were by the large number of mummified cat remains found in their owners tomb.

These guys were most certainly useful pets also. A farmers best friend keeping vermin at bay. It's no wonder they were fed and kept well when they were so good at protecting their supplies.

Dogs

When it came to ancient Egyptian pets, there were few more loved than the old faithful dish-licker.

Paintings from different periods of ancient Egypt show dogs in various roles as human pets. Sometimes they were portrayed with a greyhound-like appearance and other times looking more like a mastiff.

They have been found with leather collars and were also mummified and buried with their loving owners.

Dogs were useful pets also. They were used as guard dogs and hunting dogs as they have been in many other cultures around the world.

So as you can see from the above examples the Egyptians liked having companionship other than the human kind.

Oh yeah ... which was the only pet to be named as a human would be?

Answer - The dog.

There is evidence of cats having names but it wasn't common.



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