Ancient Egyptians bred birds of prey

CAIRO, Sept. 4 (UPI) -- The ancient Egyptians mummified more than just humans. Archeologists have recovered all sorts of mummified animals from ancient tombs -- including cats, dogs and lots and lots of birds.

But where did all the birds of prey come from? Raptors aren't exactly easy to capture. New research has offered an answer: ancient Egyptians bred birds of prey for the purposes of religious sacrifice.

The revelation came after researchers at the American University in Cairo imaged a mummified kestrel and realized the bird had been force-fed a mouse prior to its untimely death. As detailed in a new paper, published in the Journal of Archaeological Science, the evidence suggests ancient Egyptians kept birds of prey in captivity. The captives were likely force-fed until they died from overeating, at which point they were mummified and offered to the gods.

"The idea of birds of prey being bred to the extent of being kept and force-fed is new," lead study author Salima Ikram, a professor of Egyptology, said in a press release. "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."

Using CT scan imagery, Ikram and her colleagues were able to conduct a virtual autopsy of the mummified bird. They determined the specimen to be a European kestrel (Falco tinnunculus). Detailed images of its stomach contents suggest the bird was force-fed a mouse prior to death, the tail of which caused the bird to choke. The bird had already eaten a mouse earlier that day, as well as a small sparrow.

"When we saw how much the kestrel ate and how it choked, we suddenly had an idea about how the ancient Egyptians managed to mummify so many raptor and the implications about wild animal husbandry and the possibility of falconry being practiced in ancient Egypt," Ikram said.

There have been hints that falconry, the practice of training birds of prey to hunt for their human captors, was practiced in ancient Egypt. But hard evidence of the tradition hasn't been found.

"We know raptors were religiously important, but it's interesting to think about the role they may have had in falconry," said Ikram. "It's also interesting that Egyptians were exerting so much thought and control over nature and that their aptitude with wild animals is considerable."