Cat with Kittens
Description
<p>Representations of cats are well-known in Ancient Egypt from the 2nd millennium BCE. The onomatopoetic Egyptian name was "miu" (mjw) for the male, and "mit" (mjjt) for the female cat. Egypt's economic base was agriculture and therefore rodent- and snake-hunting felines were very much appreciated. In terms of religious beliefs the male cat was connected to the sun-god, and the female cat to Bastet. Particularly in the Late and Greco-Roman Periods representations of the goddess as well as cats and cats with kittens became very popular to symbolize fertility and renewal. This amulet displays a seated female cat with a kitten in front of her. This kitten is facing the right and has the same posture as its mother. The amulet has a rectangular base and a loop on the back of the cat.</p><p>For the latest information about this object, <cite><a href='https://purl.thewalters.org/art/48.1554' rel='external'>Cat with Kittens</a></cite>, visit the Online Collection of the Walters Art Museum.</p>
Connections
Cross-references (2)
- Walters-AccNum 48.1554 tier-2
- Walters-id 6840 tier-2
About this record's data
- From the source institution — accession, description, dimensions, and dating are as catalogued by Walters Art Museum (Egyptian).
- AI-inferred — the image-analysis panel (deities, names, signs) is machine-generated and may be wrong.
- Approximate location — most map points are plotted at the site centroid, not the exact findspot.
- Inferred links — cross-references marked with a match method other than explicit-source-field were matched by us, not stated by the source.