Two cats surmounting a box for an animal mummy
Late Period–Ptolemaic Period
Not on view
Bastet was a powerful goddess of Lower Egypt, one who was protective and could bring about great prosperity. In zoomorphic form, she was represented as a cat and cats were considered sacred to her. As a cat, she is poised and alert, on guard against external forces. Here two cats surmount a square box that would have once held an animal mummy. Such mummy boxes were deposited in catacombs alongside linen-wrapped cat mummies, as at the extensive catacombs at Bubastis and Saqqara.
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