<em>Inlay in the Form of a Scarabeus</em>, 305 B.C.E.-1st century C.E. Glass, 5/8 x 1/4 x 1 1/8 in. (1.7 x 0.7 x 2.8 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 37.1157E. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 37.1945E_37.1157E_detail_PS9.jpg)

Inlay in the Form of a Scarabeus, 305 B.C.E.-1st century C.E. Glass, 5/8 x 1/4 x 1 1/8 in. (1.7 x 0.7 x 2.8 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 37.1157E. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 37.1945E_37.1157E_detail_PS9.jpg)

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Download our app and ask your own questions during your visit. Here are some that others have asked.

Can you provide a bigger picture of cats in Egyptian society please?

Many people think that cats themselves were worshipped as divine. This is untrue, the Egyptians respected aspects of cats and other animals and associated their attributes with the divine. Their depictions of half-human half-animal hybrids were more complicated, and show that certain gods had these types of traits.

Cats were revered because they were able to kill vermin (mice, rats etc) that would get into food supplies and since grain was so important to daily life and food cats were important too. Cats also were able to kill snakes like the cobra. The Goddess Bastet, who I mentioned earlier, was the goddess of Protection, fertility and motherhood, because cats (large and small) tend to have large litters and are very nurturing and protective of their kittens. Also, it's worth mentioning that cats were believed to be first domesticated in the region!

Thanks!

Would you be able to tell me more about this?

This is a wood sculpture, which is interesting because wood was extremely expensive and rare. Very little wood survives the test of time which is why most artifacts we see are made of stone but Egyptians regularly used wood.

The sculpture may have worn a jeweled collar, based on the markings around the neck. And the gem on top of its head is a representation of a scarab, an animal also important to the Egyptians. So, while sculptures of cats often show accessories on the cats, scholars aren't sure if actual cats wore any adornments.

Were some of them used as containers for mummified cats?

Yes! Some of them were, the picture you sent me however wasn't as its solid wood. Mummified cats were often offerings to the Goddess Bastet. Mummified cats may have been thought to still have protective qualities.

Inlay in the Form of a Scarabeus

Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art

Most cat statues of this type served as containers for cat mummies. Because this statue is solid, it must have functioned differently, perhaps as a temple offering. A scarab, symbolizing the morning sun, was frequently placed between the ears of such cats, perhaps an artistic interpretation of the stripes on a cat’s fur.

MEDIUM Glass

Place Made: Egypt

DATES 305 B.C.E.-1st century C.E.

PERIOD Ptolemaic Period to Roman Period

DIMENSIONS 5/8 x 1/4 x 1 1/8 in. (1.7 x 0.7 x 2.8 cm) (show scale)

COLLECTIONS Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art

ACCESSION NUMBER 37.1157E

CREDIT LINE Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund

CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION Opaque blue glass inlay in the form of a scarabeus.

EXHIBITIONS

Divine Felines: Cats of Ancient Egypt

MUSEUM LOCATION This item is not on view

CAPTION Inlay in the Form of a Scarabeus, 305 B.C.E.-1st century C.E. Glass, 5/8 x 1/4 x 1 1/8 in. (1.7 x 0.7 x 2.8 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 37.1157E. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 37.1945E_37.1157E_detail_PS9.jpg)

IMAGE group, detail, 37.1945E_37.1157E_detail_PS9.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2015

"CUR" at the beginning of an image file name means that the image was created by a curatorial staff member. These study images may be digital point-and-shoot photographs, when we don\'t yet have high-quality studio photography, or they may be scans of older negatives, slides, or photographic prints, providing historical documentation of the object.

RIGHTS STATEMENT Creative Commons-BY

You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this three-dimensional work in accordance with a Creative Commons license. Fair use, as understood under the United States Copyright Act, may also apply. Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online application form (charges apply). For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch. For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright. If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.

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Download our app and ask your own questions during your visit. Here are some that others have asked.

Can you provide a bigger picture of cats in Egyptian society please?

Thanks!

Would you be able to tell me more about this?

Were some of them used as containers for mummified cats?