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Cat Mummy

Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art

On View: Funerary Gallery 2, Martha A. and Robert S. Rubin Gallery, 3rd Floor
Often, the more elaborate the wrapping, the less likely it is that the whole animal is inside, as the two CT scans shown here reveal. Perhaps the intricate wrapping substitutes for the animal.

This ibis is the most elaborately wrapped of all the animal mummies on display here. The herringbone pattern linen, the beak, and the elaborate crown all cover a mummy made only from ibis feathers. In contrast, the simple circular wrapping of this cat, with a head modeled in linen, conceals a complete cat mummy.
MEDIUM Animal remains, linen, pigment
  • Place Made: Egypt
  • DATES 750–400 B.C.E.
    DYNASTY Dynasty 22 to Dynasty 27
    PERIOD Third Intermediate Period or later
    DIMENSIONS 5 1/2 × 3 3/4 × 24 1/2 in. (14 × 9.5 × 62.2 cm)  (show scale)
    ACCESSION NUMBER 37.1988E
    CREDIT LINE Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund
    CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION Mummified cat, neatly wrapped. Features painted on face. Decorated with various crossings and interlacing of bands from foot to neck. Single cloth over head on which features are indicated in line. Wound from neck to tail in alternately light and dark bands. Ears simulated in cloth.
    CAPTION Cat Mummy, 750–400 B.C.E. Animal remains, linen, pigment, 5 1/2 × 3 3/4 × 24 1/2 in. (14 × 9.5 × 62.2 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 37.1988E. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 37.1988E_SL1.jpg)
    IMAGE overall, 37.1988E_SL1.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph
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    RIGHTS STATEMENT Creative Commons-BY
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