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Mummified cat from Ancient Egypt
Mummified cat from Ancient Egypt. Animals were mummified in Ancient Egypt for thousands of years, either to allow a favoured pet to follow its owner into the afterlife, or as an act of worship to a god with an animal cult. Cat mummy offerings would have been intended for deities such as Mafdet, Bastet or Sekhmet. Mummification involved removing the internal organs, drying out the body, embalming it, and wrapping it in layers of linen. X-rays of this mummy have revealed the perfectly preserved skeleton of a cat just reaching maturity, whose neck had been broken. This mummy dates from around 400 BC to 100 AD, the Late Period to Roman Period. This object was give to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1915.
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