Ancient Egyptians captured and temporarily tamed wild birds by the millions in order to mummify the animals in ritualistic sacrifices, new research suggests.
Egyptian catacombs contain troves of mummified birds, specifically African sacred ibises, stacked atop each other in tiny jars and coffins. But how did the ancient people collect all those birds to begin with? Given the sheer number of avian mummies, scholars have long theorized that Egyptians must have farmed ibises to meet demand. But when a team of geneticists took a closer look, they determined that Egyptians probably plucked wild ibises from their natural habitats.
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