The curse of becoming a mummy

Some of my major fascinations have been Egypt, the pyramids and mummification. I was so fascinated by the process of mummification that my students and I mummified a chicken we named King Bob. We purchased Bob at Safeway and he was well chilled. It was a huge project. King Bob lived in my garage for a year until his royal burial.

The recent headline “Archaeologists Discover Dozens of Cat Mummies, 100 Statues in Ancient Tomb” caught my eye, I was amazed to discover that the 4,500-year-old tomb not only contained cat mummies but also mummified scarab beetles. Just how big do scarab beetles get? Sounds pretty creepy.

The tomb contains fabulous statues of gilded wooden cats and a bronze statue of Bastet, the goddess of cats. The statues are incredible and look rather modern in style. The photos of the mummified cats are startling.

The Egyptians saw cats as divine but didn’t exactly worship them. Cats were observed and then gods or goddesses were created in their images. Cats weren’t the only animals mummified because dogs, crocodiles, snakes and bulls were also preserved.

Both cats and dogs were bred specifically for mummification. It was a pretty common practice. In one catacomb near the temple of Anubis, the jackal-headed god of death, there were 8 million dog mummies found. It is believed that the animals were mummified to honor the gods.

In fact whole cities were dedicated to cats, dogs, and river fish. These animal cults were popular around 747 BCE to 30 BCE. Tourism was a boost for the local economy and going to the temple of Bastet or Anubis was like going to Disneyland. Just like today there were crafts, food, dancing and, of course, the mummies.

I’m glad we have moved beyond the ancient ways of Egypt because the greatest thing about cats and dogs is the joy of being with them as companions. Although I think cats still believe they are gods.

IN NEED OF

CAPS is presently looking for an Executive Director who will oversee operations at CAPS. You must love animals! This is a 30-hour/week job. Please call 775-423-7500 for details and ask for Pauline. You may also email your résumé to caps@cccomm.net with “Attention Pauline” in the subject line.

SHOUT OUT TO

Fallon Floors for all of the building materials. A Four Paws Salute to you! Fallon Glass for the Plexiglas and your wonderful service. A Big Tail Wag to you!

Mike and Sally Van Curen for the big bag of cans. A Pooch Smooch to you!

COME SEE US

CAPS will be at Walmart in Dec. 15 with the Kissin’ Booth and a puckered-up pooch. Come by to get your pooch smooch. We have CAPS Calendars for 2019, hoodies, shirts and hats. Be sure to check out our merchandise after you’ve hugged our pup.

DON’T FORGET

November Pet Holiday: Pet Diabetes Month

To register in the AmazonSmile program, a website operated by Amazon. Customers enjoy same selection of products, low prices and shopping features as on Amazon.com. The only difference is that, when you shop on AmazonSmile (smile.amazon.com), the AmazonSmile Foundation will donate 0.5% of the price of eligible purchases to the charitable organization selected by you.

Flower Tree Nursery will again be raffling a 20-gallon blue spruce on Dec. 15, and the winner doesn’t have to be present to win. The raffle tickets are available at Flower Tree, and they are $1 for one ticket and $5 for six tickets.

CONTACT CAPS

CAPS’ mailing address is P.O. Box 5128, Fallon, NV 89407. CAPS’ phone number is 775-423-7500. CAPS’ email address is caps@cccomm.net. Please visit the CAPS website (www.capsnevada.com) and Facebook page (Churchill Animal Protection Society). Be sure to “Like” CAPS on Facebook because we are really likeable.

CAPS is open to the public on Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Kathleen Williams-Miller is a CAPS volunteer. Contact me, jkwmil@outlook.com.