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2016 August

Meet the messenger

Jeff Burzacott August 21, 2016

This bronze statue had one job. It was created to carry a prayer between two realms: the earthly and the divine.

The cat statue was dedicated to a deity—possibly the goddess Bastet—so that the wealthy donor's prayer would be addressed to the goddess throughout eternity.

Animal mummies were designed to do the same thing. Cats, birds, crocodiles, even beetles were mummified in their millions as offerings to the gods. Statues like this however were much more expensive. Presumably, the man who commissioned this piece needed the god's help for something big.

This gorgeous statue is on loan from Liverpool's Garstang Museum to the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum in Glasgow, for the travelling exhibition, Gifts for the Gods: Animal Mummies Revealed.

The exhibition will be open at the Kelvingrove until Monday September 5, after which it moves to the World Museum, Liverpool.

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 Satisfy your passion for ancient Egypt.  NILE Magazine  June-July 2017 is out now. Inside: - The Tomb-1000 years of robbery and reuse. - Egypt's first ever funerary garden discovered. - World Museum's new ancient Egypt gallery. - Art and Archaeology meet: the two worlds of Susan Osgood. - The Royal Tombs of Ancient Egypt. - Aswan's powerful governors. - On This Day in Egyptology history. - Plus much more.   Click on the cover to subscribe.

Satisfy your passion for ancient Egypt.
NILE Magazine June-July 2017 is out now. Inside:
- The Tomb-1000 years of robbery and reuse.
- Egypt's first ever funerary garden discovered.
- World Museum's new ancient Egypt gallery.
- Art and Archaeology meet: the two worlds of Susan Osgood.
- The Royal Tombs of Ancient Egypt.
- Aswan's powerful governors.
- On This Day in Egyptology history.
- Plus much more.

Click on the cover to subscribe.

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