19 July 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

1000-year-old Cats and Babies mummies of Turkey’s

Cat, baby, and adult mummies in Aksaray, which took its place in history as Cappadocia’s gateway to the west on the Silk Road, fascinate its visitors in the museum where they are exhibited.

Aksaray history begins with the establishment of the first village settlement of Central Anatolia in Aşıklı Höyük, 11 thousand years ago.

Aksaray and its surroundings were inhabited in the Neolithic period, in the Chalcolithic age, see when life continued uninterruptedly. After that remained under the Hittite, Persian, Hellenistic Period (Alexander the Great), Roman, and Byzantine domination.

Since Christianity, which began to spread in Anatolia by St. Paul and his disciples in the 1st century A.C., caused a great reaction from the polytheistic Roman proponents, the first Christians began to settle in safer places for protection. Also, many clergymen who wanted to cloister preferred Aksaray and its surroundings. In this period, alongside the construction of a large number of underground cities within the borders of Güzelyurt and Gülağaç, the steep slopes in the valleys were carved and in-rock churches and dwellings were built.

Mummy of a baby displayed at the Aksaray Museum, in Aksaray, Turkey. (IHA Photo)
Mummy of a baby displayed at the Aksaray Museum, in Aksaray, Turkey. (IHA Photo)

Because of the expeditions of Muslim Arabs to Istanbul over Anatolia starting from the ends of the 7th century, Christians took refuge in Ihlara and Manastır Valley surrounding.

At the Aksaray Museum, which houses Turkey’s first and only mummy section, there stands on display a total of 13 mummies, consisting of cats, babies, and adult humans from the 10th, 11th, and 12th centuries unearthed in excavations in and around Aksaray.

These mummies on display were found during excavations in churches in the Ihlara valley. Some of the mummies were found in the churches built about a thousand years ago in Çanlı Church.

Aksaray Museum Director Yusuf Altın provided information on the mummies, which are preserved in showcases with special heating and cooling systems.

“With 13 mummies in our Aksaray Museum, we are the only museum in Turkey with a mummy section,” Altın said. “There is one mummy in each of the Amasya and Niğde Museums, but our museum has the only section exhibited in this way … in our country.”

“The mummies in our museum were found as a result of the excavations in the churches in Ihlara Valley. Some of our mummies were found in the churches built about a thousand years ago in Çanlı Church,” he stated.

A mummy of a cat displayed at the Aksaray Museum, in Aksaray, Turkey. (IHA Photo)
A mummy of a cat displayed at the Aksaray Museum, in Aksaray, Turkey. (IHA Photo)

Altın pointed out that the embalming technique in Turkey was different compared to Egypt.

“Of these mummies, the baby mummy is very technical work in itself. Because the mummification technique in our country is different from the mummification technique in Egypt. In this technique, after the person dies, the internal organs of the corpse are removed, the wax is melted and the corpse is covered with a layer of glaze. Then it is covered with fabric and shroud. It is buried in the ground in this way and the corpse remains preserved for centuries after it dries. We bring our mummies from these excavations to our museum and exhibit them. In particular, we also exhibit the embroideries of necklaces, booties, and shrouds on them.”

Yusuf stated that a cat loved by its owner was also preserved with the mummification technique and that a cat mummy was found during the excavation efforts.

“We have another mummy, the cat mummy, which especially attracts the attention of our children. Our cat mummy was covered with wax and preserved, probably because it was loved by its owner. So, we have been displaying it in our museum,” he said.

“All of our mummies are from the 10th, 11th, and 12th centuries. So, they are almost a thousand years old.”

Related Articles

Little Known Powerful Kingdom of History’s “Mitanni Kingdom”

3 February 2021

3 February 2021

Hurrians; They became a state organization with a warrior and ruling class of Indo-Aryan origin who came from North-West Mesopotamia...

Tomb of an Urartian buried with his dog, cattle, sheep, and 4 horses unearthed

6 September 2021

6 September 2021

In ancient times, the dead were buried with their living and non-living things. The offerings placed as dead gifts varied...

Papal bull discovered in a former cemetery dated to the 14th century

10 May 2023

10 May 2023

A medieval bull found in 2021 in Budzistów village (Kołobrzeg district), Poland has been restored and placed on display in...

Unique Gold Artefacts of Thracian Horseman Found in Bulgaria

23 August 2024

23 August 2024

The Topolovgrad Municipality posted on its Facebook page on Wednesday that during excavations at the site of a Thracian warrior’s...

Excavations at Aizanoi in Western Turkey to Resume

29 March 2021

29 March 2021

The ancient city of Aizanoi is located in the town of Çavdarhisar, 57 km from the center of Kütahya (Turkey’s...

A cave complex with hieroglyphs and Varangian symbols discovered in center of Ukraine

19 November 2022

19 November 2022

An ancient cave complex thought to date from Kievan Rus’ has been discovered in central Kyiv at Voznesensky Uzvoz. Dmytro...

Earliest Multiplication Formulas Discovered in a 2,300-Year-Old Chinese Tomb

27 December 2023

27 December 2023

Archaeologists excavating a tomb in the Qinjiazui archaeological site of Jingzhou City, Hubei Province, China, have found the earliest multiplication...

Archaeologists discover rare Caanite inscription on ancient ivory comb

12 November 2022

12 November 2022

Israeli archaeologists discovered a rare inscription on an ivory comb that sheds new light on the Canaanite language’s use some...

Unearthing the Epic: New Finds Bolster Links to Legendary Trojan War

8 July 2025

8 July 2025

The legendary Trojan War, long enshrined in myth and Homeric epic, may be moving closer to historical validation as archaeologists...

Impressive proof of technology transfer in Antiquity times “2700 year- old a Leather Armor”

20 July 2022

20 July 2022

Design and construction details of the unique leather-scaled armor found in a horse rider’s tomb in northwest China indicate that...

Archaeologists discover three extraordinary 1,800-year-old residential-style tombs featuring rooms and windows, Filled with Han Dynasty Treasures

19 May 2024

19 May 2024

Archaeologists discovered three remarkable 1,800-year-old, residential-style tombs featuring rooms and windows, where a wealthy family was laid to rest alongside...

Refurbishment at the Uffizi Gallery Revealed a Pair of Priceless Lost Renaissance Frescoes

24 April 2021

24 April 2021

A couple of construction workers discovered two Renaissance-era treasures while working on an extensive renovation project at Florence’s world-famous Uffizi...

Australia’s 1,400-year-old Mysterious Earth Rings: Evidence of Millennia of Human Effort, Not Natural Formation

21 January 2025

21 January 2025

A chain of mysterious earth rings in the Sunbury hills at the fringe of Melbourne, in Australia have been found...

Between Shamans, Gods and Spirits: A Journey into Bulgaria’s Mysterious Central Asian Origins

2 July 2025

2 July 2025

Long before modern borders were drawn, ancient spiritual traditions — led by shamans and rooted in communion with the unseen...

A 1,600-year-old church has been discovered in Turkey’s ancient city of Priene

19 October 2021

19 October 2021

A 1,600-year-old historical church was unearthed during the excavations in the Ancient City of Priene, located in the western province...