Al-Fayyūm, probably Hawara, Egypt

Mummified Cat as Votive Offering of Roman Period Egypt

2084

Roman Period Egypt, c. 30 BCE–395 CE

A complete animal mummy of Roman Period Egypt, originating from al-Fayyūm, probably Hawara, and now in the collection of the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto. The mummy is shaped as an upright elongated cylinder terminating in a carefully modeled feline head casing with upright ears and painted almond-shaped eyes. The entire cylindrical body is encased in a rigid geometric wrapping of linen strips arranged in a diagonal diamond grid — alternating dark and light linen bands overlapping at forty-five-degree angles to produce nested concentric diamond squares across the full surface, creating the visual effect of woven basketry or scaled armor. Under directional light, the overlapping linen folds and the alternating light and dark bands produce a pronounced low-relief texture, with shadow lines following the diagonal folds of the wrapping and highlights on the raised edges of each strip.