Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • NEWS

Rare mummified lions add to Egyptology buzz

Ancient cats come hot on the heels of a stunning human-coffin find as Egypt keeps research on the artefacts to itself, for now.
  1. Antoaneta Roussi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed  Google Scholar

The unveiling of five ancient feline mummies, including at least two lion cubs, and a host of other artefacts from the Bubasteion necropolis in Saqqara, south of Cairo, has left Egyptologists buzzing. It is only the second time that lion mummies have been found; the first was reported in 2004. The latest announcement, on 23 November, follows last month’s revelation that 30 sealed coffins and their mummified human contents had been discovered at the Assasif necropolis near Luxor, some 500 kilometres south of Saqqara.

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Get just this article for as long as you need it

$39.95

Learn more

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Nature 575, 573-574 (2019)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-019-03666-2

Subjects

Latest on:

Nature Careers

Jobs

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing

Search

Advanced search

Quick links