One of the most important excavations of the 1960s was undertaken by Professor W B Emery (1903-1971) at what came to be known as Saqqara’s ‘Sacred Animal Necropolis’ (SAN). One might therefore wonder why the work is now so little known, despite a renewed interest in animal mummies.
The main reason that Emery’s work is now chiefly known only to Egyptologists is the fact of his untimely death during the 1970-1971 season of excavation at the site. His aim had not been to unearth an animal necropolis, but rather to find the location of the burial site of Imhotep, architect of the Step Pyramid of pharaoh Djoser (c.2667-2648 BC). Emery reasoned that, since Djoser reigned during the Third Dynasty, the tomb of Imhotep would be among others belonging to that dynasty, on the desert plateau south-west of the present-day village of Abusir. In later times, Imhotep came to be regarded as a demi-god associated with both Ptah, as a patron of craftsmen, and Thoth, as a god of wisdom and learning. Emery reasoned that, because of this, a good place to begin excavation was an area of Third Dynasty tombs that had scattered Late Period and Ptolemaic pottery jars for ibis burials sacred to Thoth. As well as the surface indications of broken mummy pots, Emery knew that early travellers from the 17th century onwards had recorded visits to the area, describing underground galleries full of mummified birds – the precise location and extent of which were unknown in the 1960s.
The catacombs
Emery did not expect to unearth two very extensive catacombs for ibis burials, another for falcons, one for baboons, and a series of Serapeum-like vaults for the cows that were the mothers of the Apis bull. These were set beside or near to an artificial terrace that originally supported a variety of small temples or shrines, some of which – in their day – had become so overcrowded that their votive bronze situlae and figurines had to be cleared and cached beneath the terrace itself, or within the catacombs.
