14 DAY TRIAL // Millennia ago, a bird in Ancient Egypt was force-fed until it died chocking on a mouse somebody presented it with even though the feathered creature had already had enough to eat. Once dead, the kestrel was mummified and offered as a gift to the gods.
Having examined the bird's remains and determined its cause of death, researchers believe that, like other birds of prey that people in Ancient Egypt would turn into gifts for the gods, this kestrel that died because of forced overeating was born and raised in captivity.
Previously, it was assumed that the birds of prey mummified and made into offerings in Ancient Egypt were wild ones. However, this theory doesn't sit right with overeating as a cause of death. Rather, researchers say captive breeding makes more sense.
“Until now, the sheer number of raptor mummies had been a mystery - did they catch or trap them and kill them, raid nests, or find them dead? Our results explain why they had so many: we now think it was because of active breeding,” says researcher Salima Ikram.
Whoever mummified this unlucky bird was a wee lazy
The reason specialists managed to determine that overeating killed this mummified kestrel now on display at the Iziko Museums of South Africa in Cape Town was that whoever prepared it for the ceremonial offering to the gods did a rather lousy job.
Usually, birds and other animals in Ancient Egypt were first gutted before being dried, dipped into resins, wrapped and made into mummies, Science Daily explains. This one bird, however, escaped having its digestive tract removed from its body.
Hence, using CT imaging, researchers managed to sneak a peek at its last meal. Apart from a mouse tail stuck in its throat - the cause of death - they found 27 teeth and other rodent fragments in its gizzard and stomach, along with bits and pieces of a sparrow.
This indicates that, prior to its death, the bird had quite a lot to eat. Unless especially bred in captivity, the kestrel would not have eaten so many animals on the same day, not if it had had to go out hunting for its meals itself.
They mummified a whole lot of animals in Ancient Egypt
Millions of mummified animals dating back to Ancient Egypt have been recovered by archaeologists over the years, most of them since around 600 BC to 250 AD.
The reason people in Ancient Egypt created this many animal mummies was that they associated their gods with different creatures, and so, when making offerings, dead animals seemed like the right choice. For instance, raptors like this kestrel were associated with the god Re.
