Museum Ancient Egyptian Cat Statue

The monuments in the egyptian sculpture gallery were created for eternity.

Museum ancient egyptian cat statue. Feline goddess sculpture egyptian cat ancient bastet museum replica statue new. Bronze and wood cat statuettes were placed as votive offerings at temples and some were hollow and held cat mummies preserving the remains for eternity. The cat wears jewellery and a protective wadjet amulet. Egyptian cat figure statue lot.

The cat was the sacred animal of the goddess bastet a great and benevolent egyptian goddess. For the egyptians the goddesses bastet and sakhmet were two aspects of divine power. A copy of the statue is kept in the gayer anderson museum located in cairo. The statue is a representation of the female cat deity bastet.

Cats in ancient egypt especially female cats were highly esteemed closely linked to women and often depicted as important members of prominent households. The civilisation of ancient egypt arose in the fourth millennium bc and only waned in the first four centuries ad after egypt was annexed into the roman empire. The statue is 42 cm high and 13 cm wide. Golden egyptian king tut cobra nemes mask mini bust statue cat goddess figurine.

Gayer anderson was a keen collector of small egyptian sculptures jewellery and pottery. The deity mut was also depicted as a cat and in the company of a cat. A scarab appears on the head and a winged scarab is shown on the chest. The exhibition s cats and feline divinities range from a large limestone sculpture of a recumbent lion 305 30 b c e to a diminutive bronze sphinx of king sheshenq 945 718 b c e to a cast bronze figurine of a cat nursing four kittens 664 30 b c e.

Statue of the cat goddess bastet handmade in cairo egypt. Terry pratchett ancient egyptians revered cats and worshiped the goddess bastet who could appear in human form with a feline head or as a cat. Egyptian cat statue harvard museum of the ancient near east. Bastet was the playful feline goddess of joy.

On view at the met fifth avenue in gallery 134. It s named after major robert grenville gayer anderson who donated the statue to the british museum in 1939. The earrings and nose ring on the statue may not have always belonged to the cat. Cat statuette intended to contain a mummified cat.

He showcased these in his home in cairo now known as the gayer anderson museum. The cat dates from the late period of ancient egypt around 600 bc. This egyptian cat figurine made from a copper alloy dates from the ptolemaic period 304 30 bce. This makes it one of the world s most enduring civilisations.

Several ancient egyptian deities were depicted and sculptured with cat like heads such as mafdet bastet and sekhmet representing justice fertility and power. Also included are furniture and luxury items decorated with feline features.