Magnifying the past

A view down the microscope of a fragment of woven linen cloth used to wrap the mummy of a hawk in Ancient Egypt, probably around 1500 BC. You can see that the twisted fibres of the cloth are heavily impregnated with the pitch and resins used in the mummification process.

Mummified animals are frequently found in ancient Egyptian tombs, where they served as offerings to the gods. Hawks are generally associated with the God Horus, the Lord of the Sky and a sign of divine power and protection. Horus is frequently depicted as a falcon or hawk-headed man. Hawks and other sacred animals were often kept in the precinct of their deity's temple and when they died they were mummified and buried with great ceremony.

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