Our dearly de-pet-ed: archaeologists discover 2,000 year-old Egyptian animal cemetery

Curled up against one another, covered in fabric shrouds and pieces of pottery, are the remains of nearly 600 animals – each resting in carefully-prepared pits, and buried with talismans like decorative collars and their favourite toys. 

And while this might sound like a modern way of taking care of our beloved pets after they’ve passed away, this grave site on the outskirts of Berenike (aka Berenice Troglodytica) in Egypt suggests that humans have been practising burial rites for their beloved animals for thousands of years.

Back in 2011, Archaeozoologist Marta Osypinska and her coworkers at the Polish Academy of Sciences discovered the graveyard just outside the city walls of the ruined ancient seaport on the Egyptian Red Sea Coast. 

After nearly 10 years of decoding their findings, they revealed that the cemetery is thought to date from the 1st or 2nd century CE, and contains the remains of 585 animals: including 536 cats, 32 dogs, and a number of other animals such as monkeys, birds, and even a fox. 

Yet besides the skeletal remains of the animals being located all in one place, the archaeologists found strong evidence that the creatures were not just scavengers or ritual sacrifices – rather, they were buried with special care and attention, and the evidence suggests that they were domesticated, making Berenike arguably the oldest pet cemetery in the world. 

“In our opinion, the described features suggest that the Berenike finds could be defined as a cemetery of house-kept pets,” wrote Marta. “Instead of as a parallel to the known Egyptian deposits related to sacral or at least magical rites.”

While excavating, the team found no contemporaneous human burials on the site – inferring that the area, located near an ancient trash heap, was dedicated to animal burials only. Furthermore, none of the remains were mummified – as religious sacrifice would dictate – nor did any of the bones show signs of deliberate killing. 

Instead, the scientists found skeletal evidence of long-term injuries or illnesses that would have made them useless as working animals, which meant that their owners would’ve had to feed and take care of the pets in a region where most resources were expensive and imported. Additionally, many of the dogs found were smaller in size – including one that could have served as an Ancient Egyptian lap dog.

Yet perhaps the most compelling evidence for Berenike being a pet cemetery was exactly how the animals were laid to rest. Each was carefully buried within the sediment, and several of the cats and monkeys had decorative collars or were found with mementos from their life, like a dried cow's tail that would’ve been used as a toy.

Read more stories about record-breaking pets in our Animals section!

Image credit: Couleur / Pixabay

Nevertheless, Berenike is not the only ancient cemetery dedicated to pets. Hunter-gatherer cultures in Russia’s Lake Baikal region buried a dog in their human cemetery, while three dogs were intentionally buried by Native Americans in Illinois nearly 10,000 years ago – and archaeologists have even found older specimens across Europe, including a 27,000-year-old canid buried with a mammoth bone in its mouth, dating back to before dogs were even domesticated.

And some scientists urge caution when saying that a buried animal was a “pet”, saying that humans have used animals for protection and to clear vermin for thousands of years, and that just because they were well taken care of, doesn’t mean that there was a strong connection between them. We might be using our current love for our pets to cloud our view of the past.

Despite these valid critiques, Marta remains steadfast in her belief that Berenike was a dedicated pet cemetery. She points out that cats were highly valued in Ancient Egyptian society, and that the mass amount of animals buried with care in one area suggests an exception to the criticism. 

“Too often, this sphere of social life is considered as modern behaviour exclusively,” she said in her paper. “The finds at Berenike seem to break with this stereotype.”

And regardless where you stand on the issue, it is sweet to think that for thousands of years we’ve appreciated animals for their companionship instead of their practical use. 

Header image of a Chilean pet cemetery: Ben Seelt / Design Pics / SuperStock.