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Description : Egypt, Late Dynastic to Ptolemaic Period, ca. 664 to 30 BCE. An incredibly rare, hand-carved amethyst pendant depicting a stylized cat. Seated upon its haunches atop an integral tablet-shaped plinth, the feline stares out with petite eyes that flank the back of the attenuated snout and delineated jowls. A pair of perky ears protrude from atop the head to create the attractive presentation. Feline votive objects and pendants like this example were carved by worshippers of Bastet and worn on pilgrimages to her temple in Bubastis to deposit such offerings. Bastet was known as a goddess of protection and health to aid travelers, but her most noteworthy association is being the goddess of cats. Pendants like this example are shaped from rock crystal, bronze, and precious metals, however an amethyst example is of marked scarcity! Size: 0.9 L x 0.6 W x 1.25 H (2.3 cm x 1.5 cm x 3.2 cm) The ancient Egyptians, rather uniquely among the world's civilizations, had an obsession with cats, both tame and fierce, large and small. Cats were domesticated to help protect crops from pests in Cyprus or possibly Mesopotamia (it is difficult to interpret the archaeological record on this matter for a variety of reasons), but the Egyptian love of cats seems to have gone above and beyond that of their contemporaries. The cemetery at Hierakonpolis includes a cat skeleton in a pre-Dynastic tomb (ca. 3700 BCE) that had a broken left humerus and right femur that seem to have been set by a human and allowed to heal before that cat's ultimate death. The first illustration of a cat with a collar comes from a 5th Dynasty (ca. 2500 to 2350 BCE) Egyptian tomb at Saqqara. Cats were the most frequently mummified animal in Egypt and there were multiple feline goddesses, including the domesticated cat-form Bastet. Bastet was initially a lioness goddess associated with the solar god and channeled its destructive power. However, by the early first millennium BCE, she assumed a more domestic feline form and became understood as a goddess of fertility and a guardian of the home. Ever since, statuettes comprised of various materials have characterized her as a doting mother cat. Her cult expanded decisively when her town in Bubastis (derived from per Bastet or house of Bastet), became the royal residence of the kings of the 22nd Dynasty, during the 10th century BCE. The city hosted an annual festival honoring Bastet in celebration of the Nile flood waters, and she was honored throughout Egypt through the first millennium BCE. Cf. an example in diorite in Andrews, Carol. Amulets of Ancient Egypt. University of Texas Press, Austin, 1994, p. 32, fig. 28f. A similar example of a smaller size hammered for $38,400 at Christie's, New York Antiquities auction (sale 1846, June 8, 2007, lot 35) Provenance: East Coast collection, New York Gallery, New York City, New York, USA, acquired before 2010 All items legal to buy/sell under U.S. Statute covering cultural patrimony Code 2600, CHAPTER 14, and are guaranteed to be as described or your money back. A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany all winning bids. We ship worldwide and handle all shipping in-house for your convenience. #175350
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Estimate (low-high) : 4000 USD-6000 USD It's free to register now to view!

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