Figure of a Seated Cat

Figure of a Seated Cat

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Cats were considered sacred to Bastet, a powerful protective goddess thought to bring great prosperity. Generally represented as a cat or as a female with a cat’s head (see 34.6.1), she is frequently shown standing, indicating that she is alert and on guard against hostile forces. Cat statuettes were often dedicated as offerings in temples or deposited in sacred animal catacombs alongside cat mummies; larger figures could be hollow to hold actual cat remains. In this example, the cat wears an amulet in the form of a wedjat, the healed eye of Horus that was thought to ward off dangerous forces.

Egyptian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

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The Met collection of ancient Egyptian art consists of approximately 30,000 objects of artistic, historical, and cultural importance, dating from about 300,000 BCE to the 4th century CE. A signifcant percentage of the collection is derived from the Museum's three decades of archaeological work in Egypt, initiated in 1906 in response to increasing interest in the culture of ancient Egypt.