Image: public domain, courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Cat Statuette intended to contain a mummified cat

Ancient Egypt, 332–30 BC

A slender bronze cat sits upright with alert eyes, and on its neck you can see an engraved necklace with a small eye-shaped pendant. This elegant cat was made as a case for a real mummified cat, a gift offered to the kind goddess Bastet.

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Did you know?

For the ancient Egyptians the cat was the sacred animal of Bastet, a kind goddess who protected the home.
Bastet was seen as the gentle partner of Sekhmet, a fierce goddess shown as a lioness.
Pilgrims offered mummified cats at Bastet's temples, sometimes inside bronze or wooden cases like this one.
Bastet's most important temple was at Bubastis in the Nile Delta, and huge cat cemeteries were found there and at Saqqara.
The eye-shaped pendant on the necklace is a wedjat eye, an Egyptian sign of protection.
The cat's right ear is pierced: it once wore a little gold ring, as other precious bronze cats of Egypt did.

About this culture

Ancient Egyptian art flourished along the Nile for about three thousand years, from around 3100 BC until Egypt became part of the Roman Empire in 30 BC.

It is famous for pyramids and temples, majestic statues of pharaohs and sphinxes, and colorful tomb paintings of everyday life.

The artists rarely signed their work, yet they cherished small joys too, like the little blue faience hippo that visitors to the Met fondly call “William”.

Ancient Egypt ›

Where it is today: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York · Museum page