Episode 15: A Cat’s Place in Ancient Egypt – Worshipped and Commodified

Ii-wey! Ancient Egyptians’ belief in the afterlife was not just attainable for humans. They believed that the afterlife was not unlike a mortal life here on Earth, so there was room for animals to have eternal life too. However, for Fido and Whiskers to travel to the afterlife, their bodies would have to be preserved, like their human counterpart, via the mummification process. Given the efforts and the cost in resources and labor, it may come as quite a shock of just how many animals were mummified: a BBC Science & Environment article dated May 2015 (see here) reported that possibly more than 70 million animals were mummified in Egypt, which included dogs, birds, cows, gazelles, baboons, hippos, bulls, crocodiles, and cats! 

Animals grace many of the tomb paintings, especially cats. Like today, ancient felines were adaptable to any situation: hunting amongst the lotus and papyrus stalks or resting in a house. Cats natural hunting abilities would have been useful in ancient times, killing the rats and snakes, which likely led to cats being encouraged to stick around peoples' homes, probably with the enticement of regular bits of food. 

With the importance of cats in ancient Egypt established, Egyptologists generally agree that there are four reasons for mummifying animals, including cats: 

One
The mummified animal is worshipped as a physical representation of the Egyptian gods.

With the body of a woman and the head of cat, Bastet or Bast was an ancient Egyptian goddess that was worshipped as early as the Second Dynasty (2890 BCE). She was associated with warfare and as a protector, including fighting Apep (an evil snake), an enemy of Ra. The cat cult was likely established in the ancient city of Bubastis (also known as Per-Bast), located in the Nile Delta. There, a temple was built to the goddess Bastet and as the physical representation carrying the spirit of the goddess, so were cats.

Like the sands of the desert, her role shifted with the passing dynasties towards a goddess of protection. For a time, she was regarded as Anubis’ (god of embalming) wife. Because later dynasties moved from Lower Egypt to Thebes in Upper Egypt, and Bastet's cult center was in the delta, she remained a deity, but she was relegated to a lesser goddess.

Her status changed with the arrival of Shoshenq I and his royal residence in Bubastis during the 22nd Dynasty and lasting through the Ptolemaic Period. Herodotus visited the temple (see more below), and Greek historian Diodorus Siculus mentions witnessing that killing a cat, even accidentally, would result in death (around 60 BCE).

Two
The mummified animal was an offering at a temple. 

As well as being good hunters, cats were regarded as good protectors and by extension, good mothers. Amulets depicting a cat with her kittens were worn by women wanting children. Cats were also offered to the goddess in a mummified form. Herodotus described Bastet’s temple in detail with channels of water feeding off from the Nile and a great shrine to the cat goddess surrounded by shading trees. Excavations at the Bubastis’ temple revealed more than 300,000 mummified cats. More on this shortly.

Three
The mummified animal was prepared for the afterlife as companions.

Just as with humans, the cherished pet would have been mummified similarly to humans. The cat’s internal organs would have been removed and the cavity filled with stuffing, such as sand or other material. A final position of the cat might be wrapped sitting, or with legs extended, or legs wrapped against the body. Wrappings might be simple or done so in an intricate pattern. And, like their human, cats would need to have life sustaining items, such as food, for the afterlife: hence, mice might be mummified and milk-filled jars prepared for the feline’s journey into everlasting life.  

Four
The mummified animal was a representation of food for the afterlife. 

As mentioned above, animals were mummified as a food source for those higher up the food chain. In the case of cats, who were a sacred animal, they would not have been a source of food in the afterlife. 

As mentioned in the title of this episode, cats were worshipped, but their mummified remains reveal they were part of an ancient industry that commodified felines, as well as some of the other mummified animals. For instance, a majority of the cat mummies at the British Museum revealed that many were young (less than a year old) and had their necks broken. Some CT scans found only parts of feline or no animal at all. It could not be that where was a lack of supply, so was an empty mummy cheaper for the consumer than a complete cat mummy? We may never know. Anthropologists speculate that cats were killed as sacrifices to Bast, but also possibly as a means of controlling the feline population. While sacrifices amounted to over 300,000 at Bubastis, another 80,000+ cats and kitties were found in a tomb near the town of Beni Hasan in 1888 by a farmer. Regrettably, most of the contents were sold, so it could be ground up for fertilizer. 

Worship of Bastet and her earthly feline representative was eventually banned in 390 CE by imperial decree. Senebti!

Banner image to announce “Gift from the Gods: Animal Mummies Revealed” exhibition at Long Gallery in Lyme, U.K. now through November 4 (see article/image here)