Divine Creatures: Animal Mummies in Ancient Egypt

Definitely a must have book to add to your bookshelf!, I highly recommend to any who loves Egypt history.

So interesting. Fast delivery.

Ikram is sensational. The diversity of information found in this book is wonderful. The book is an excellent source for animal cult studies and animal mummification with color photos and multiple illustrations.

Some are interesting; at least one is downright boring. But what bothered me was the 2nd chapter where Ms Ikram details the mummifying of several rabbits, bought live but killed solely for her experiment. Had I know this was detailed in the book, I most likely wouldn't have bought it. I've had bunnies as pets for over 25 years & am also a vegetarian for at least that long. I didn't enjoy reading about how her rabbits were strangled, exsanguinated, & eviscerated in preparation for mummification.

Dr. Ikram is quite possibly one of the best nonfiction authors I have had the pleasure of reading. Her writings are easily accessible for a newbie to understand and learn, while still providing enjoyable reading for experts on the subject of ancient remains. I have read this book several times, and I often find that I will return to it over any other book in my Egyptology collection. Definitely worth a read, Dr. Ikram is a genuinely friendly and intelligent person with a great passion for the subject. There is no better anthology discussing animal mummies.

A fantastic book on the subject of animal mummies in ancient Egypt. It is written by some of the top Egyptologists in this field of study and can provide huge amounts of information on all that you would want to know about this ancient practice...from the reasons behind animal mummies (why they were scared etc.), the actual process of making them and the areas where these votive offerings were placed (i.e. holy sites such as Saqqara, Tuna al-Gebel and so fourth). It's a highly academic book and perfect for all Egyptologists out there or those who immerse themselves in the study of ancient Egypt. There are a number of beautiful picture within the book as well. Overall, it's a wonderful book!

An excellent book by a professor of Egyptology at the American University of Cairo. It deals with all the reasons why animals were mummified in ancient Egypt, why these mummies acccmpanied their masters into their tombs, and also the hoaxes that were sometimes perpetrated on unsuspecting pilgrims who thought that they were actually purchasing mummies of animals to offer to the gods. Salima Ikram is the leading authority on the subject of animal mummies. She has written widely on the subject, lectured on it at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington DC, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the British Museum in London, and several other well-known institutes, and appears frequently on TV (I have seen her on the Discovery Channel, the History Channel, the National Geographic Channel, etc, etc.) She has established a room for animal mummies in the Egyptian museum in Cairo, the first of its kind in the world.

The premise of this book is very good: give an introduction to a relatively obscure subject such as non-human mummies from Egypt so that reaers can decide for themselves if they want to learn more about it or consider their learning experience concluded. But as it often happens, the plan did not survive its encounter with reality. This book is actually a collection of essays, so one will go into it fully expecting quality to be variable. The parts written by Salima Ikram (the editor) and Edda Bresciani are actually rather good, nothing to say about them. But the rest of the essays... they feel like they have been rushed into print after only the most basic editing, if there has actually been any editing. But the worst part is probably the longest essays are written in such bad English they make an already mediocre reading experience feel like wading waist-deep through fresh cement. So if you like your reading experience to be laborious and sleep-inducing boring, this is the book for you. Otherwise stay clear of it.