Egyptian cat mummies were placed in decorative funerary boxes and coffins. This gilded coffin opens from the bottom to insert the mummy. The mummy found inside is of an undetermined species. It's either a Felis silvestris, Felis lybica, or Felis chaus. The former is domesticated and the latter two are native wildcats.Felines were first domesticated by farmers in the historical Fertile Crescent nearly 10,000 years ago. Thousands of years later, Egyptians domesticated Felis silvestris lybica. Similarly, farmers had a hand in the process, using cats to protect their crops from pests.

The object is a wooden coffin for a cat shaped as a cat. It is made from several pieces of wood, joined with wooden dowels. The main joins appear to run lengthwise in the center of the coffin, splitting the coffin into two halves. A cat mummy was inserted inside, the coffin assembled and then the gesso and layer of dark material (paint?) was applied, affectively sealing the wood assembly seams. The coffin (a) was constructed to be inserted into a wooden base (b). The base is made from a single piece of wood and has hollow areas carved out to accept the mortise like joins at the undersides of the feet at both the front and rear of the ...