I am crawling through an underground tomb in Egypt. T e ceiling is so low that my


helmet bumps against it. Black dust rises with every move, and a sickly, sweet smell fills the air. T e smell tells me I am not alone. T e dead surround me. Everywhere I look, I see many mummies of


birds. T ey’re tucked into holes in the walls or crammed into clay pots. Many have crumbled into dust. Human mummies like that of King Tut


may be better known. Yet millions of animal mummies like these birds are buried across Egypt. T ey range from small beetles to giant bulls. Spending time with dead animals might gross some people out, but I love every dusty, smelly second in these ancient tombs. I am an archaeozoologist, and I study the


mummified remains of ancient animals. T ese artifacts, or man-made objects, tell me about the past. Each bundle of bones, wrappings, and preservatives is a clue to what the ancient Egyptians believed and how they lived.


Here I am in a tunnel examining some animal mummies.


Telling a Story A mummy’s story starts with death. For the


ancient Egyptians, death wasn’t an end. T ey believed a person’s soul could live forever if it had a body. T at is why they made mummies. Human mummies oſt en were buried with


food and riches. T at way, they would have a happy aſt erlife. T is treatment wasn’t just for pharaohs and the rich. Take the story of Hapimen, a common man


who lived 2,300 years ago. In the man’s coffin, archaeologists found two mummies—the man and a dog. What a surprise! It raised a question. What was a dog doing there? Archaeologists looked for information, or


evidence, to answer that question. T e dog was curled at the man’s feet. It was as carefully preserved and wrapped as the man’s body. T at evidence led us to a logical conclusion,


or reasonable answer. T is dog was well loved. It must have been the man’s pet. He wanted to spend eternity with his dog. Like the man, the dog now has a name. It is Hapi-Puppy.


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