The goddess Bastet protected pregnant women; she was also the pleasure-loving patron of music and dance. She could be represented as a wild lion or later, commonly, in her less fierce manifestation as a cat, an animal sacred to her. Statues representing Bastet and her sacred animal are among the most appealing animal images to be preserved from ancient Egypt.

Pilgrims flocked to the annual festivals at Bastet’s great cult temple at Bubastis in the Nile Delta, where thousands of small statuettes like this one were dedicated in her honor. Small cat statuettes also served as offerings to Bastet in shrines or in tombs. A huge cemetery of mummified cats interred with all the honors due to the favored animal of a popular deity was found at Bubastis.

Egyptian Workshop, Statuette of a Cat. Bronze with gold inlays, 26th Dynasty (664–525 BCE), about 600 BCE. Height: 3 1/2 in. (8.9 cm). Purchased with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey, 1967.155. On view in the Classic Court (Gallery 2).

Image Description: A dark, bronze sculpture of a seated cat with its tail curled around its front legs. The surface is inlaid with short lines of gold resembling fur or stripes. Also outlined with gold inlay is a gold necklace, with a pendant made of straight and curved lines set into the cat’s chest.