Image Details

Photo by Kenneth Garrett

The cat goddess Bastet is often portrayed with an earring, as in this bronze statue of the deity from the Cairo Museum. Dating to the 26th Dynasty (664–525 B.C.), the 15-inch-tall statue probably comes from the ancient town of Tell Basta (in the eastern Nile Delta), where a temple to Bastet has been found. The statue is one of 250 neglected or overlooked artifacts now on display at the museum, part of an exhibition commemorating its 100th anniversary (see Zahi Hawass, “The Cairo Museum: Celebrating a Century of Finds”).