I’m Ready for My Closeup Meow

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Announcer: This is a Getty Podcast.

Host: Before we get started, I have to know—are a cat person [cat meow] or a dog person? [dog bark]

If you said dog person, can you pretend you said cat person? Because today a very special cat tells her tale. [Bastet meows]

[theme music begins]

Welcome to If Objects Could Talk, a podcast where art and artifacts get to leave the museum vault and tell their side of the story. Thanks for joining us as we bring objects into the light!

[theme music ends]

When you imagine life in ancient Egypt, do you think about pyramids and mummies? Maybe libraries? Or do you think about cats? [cat meows]

[Egyptian music begins]

Cats were kind of a big deal for Egyptians—they protected food from pests, for instance.

[mouse squeak, then cat hiss]

But they were also important in Egyptian mythology. The goddess Bastet had the head of a cat and the body of a human and she had the power to shapeshift into a fully feline form.

[magical swish, then cat meows]

This is why many of her worshipers left cat-shaped gifts at her temples. Today’s guest was likely one of these gifts—a bronze cat statuette, about one foot tall. It was made in Egypt over two thousand years ago. In the grand history of Egypt, that’s more than two thousand years after the pyramids were built, [child says “wow”] and a little before Cleopatra met her serpentine end. [snake rattle]

This cat has had a history of being misunderstood, so we are grateful she agreed to postpone her nap to get her story straightened out.

Here she comes.

Bastet Statuette: [purring then a meow] I am sure it’s a great delight to hear from me, but this is no casual audio interlude.

There have been a lot of rumors and half-truths told about me in the past. Some thoughtless gossip! So, I thought I would set the record straight one last time and then wash my paws of the entire situation. [hands rubbing]

First, I am not, nor have I ever claimed to be, the goddess Bastet. I am merely a beautiful gift, made in her image, in celebration of her divinity and perhaps in fear of her power as well.

[Mysterious music begins]

There were thousands of bronze and wood cat statuettes like me meant to be votives at temples dedicated to the goddess. However, I am one-of-a-kind. [cat meows]

Oh, I should probably explain what a votive is. A votive is a gift or offering to say thank you.

What do you do to thank someone? Do you draw a picture [sketching sound] or give a big hug? [person says “aw”] I think everyone should practice a little more gratitude. [people say “thank you”]

It makes you feel warm, like standing in the Egyptian sun. [twinkling sound]

Try it! Write a thank you note to someone, even if it’s to yourself. Celebrate a great choice or accomplishment and don’t spare any details. Details matter when you are giving thanks. My favorite way to give thanks is to take a little nap, because being well rested is a gift for everyone. I say, “Thank you, self, for being gorgeous” and then off to dream land. [lullaby music]

For those of you talking about my size, well, I love the way I look.

[mysterious music begins]

I’m not very big—only about a foot tall—about the height of two dollar bills. But I sit upright with my head held proudly and my ears at attention.

Don’t let my tail curled around my front paws fool you. I may love a good nap, but you should beware of my bite. [cat hiss]

I also heard that I am some sort of diva?

[disco music begins]

A cat wears a little jewelry and suddenly you’re typecast? Fine. Guilty as charged! I am a fancy cat.

[disco music ends]

My eyes are currently bare, but were likely inlaid with gold or another precious material, like stone or glass. I can hardly remember anymore. See—not so materialistic after all! But I do still have my necklace with a pendant of Wedjat, or sacred eye amulet, which looks like a stylized eye and eyebrow. But I don’t just wear it because it’s dazzling, I wear it because it has meaning!

[mystical music begins]

The story goes that the eye was stolen from Horus the god of goodness and kingship, by Seth, the god of the wild, untamed nature. [thunder] This caused chaos in the universe! Which I don’t think is necessarily bad.

I mean, which cat among us has never knocked a glass off a ledge just because?

[glass sliding and shattering]

But anyway, the eye had to be brought back to reestablish order—yada, yada, yada—and it represents healing and protection, just a few of my dear goddess Bastet’s many specialties. [harp music]

Bastet was the daughter of the sun god, Ra, and traveled with him across the sky in his sun boat to move the sun throughout the day from sunrise to sunset.

[mystical music begins]

She was also the goddess of music, dance, family, healing, and birth.

She had the head of a cat and the body of a human, but when she needed to protect her father, she turned one hundred percent cat, which means she was one hundred percent fierce. [angry cat meow]

And if I may be so bold as to speak for all cats for a moment, we are not idle, tame creatures. We are powerful protectors! And you are so lucky we allow you to keep us as pets. Where are the thank you notes for the cats of today?

[Egyptian music begins]

Why in my time, cats belonging to the wealthy families were adorned with jewels, like my beautiful eye necklace. And when a cat died, as a sign of mourning, the cat owners shaved off their eyebrows, and continued to mourn until their eyebrows grew back.

[music ends]

Some cats were so beloved that they were mummified and placed in tombs with their owners. [crowd gasps]

It’s true! The belief was that by placing cats and their owners in the same tomb the pair could remain together in the afterlife. Ha, and you say dogs are man’s best friend. How about not! [buzzer, then a dog whines]

I’ve also heard rumors going around that I am made of one hundred percent “cattitude,” whatever that is. But I assure you, I’m one hundred percent bronze.

I can prove it.

[mystical music begins]

I was made from a mold in one of the most advanced technical processes from antiquity called lost wax casting. Lost wax casting was so advanced that it’s still used today! An artisan makes a rough cat model out of clay. [hands pat clay] Next, a thin layer of wax was modeled over the clay, with all the finer details, like my whiskers and necklace. Then my entire shape was encased with more clay, [hands pat clay] leaving a few open channels and vents. The whole block of clay and wax was heated, [fire crackles] melting the wax in between the core and the outer clay shell. In the now empty space where the wax used to be, hot liquid bronze was poured. [bubbling]

When the bronze had cooled, the mold was broken open [clay cracks] and voila! A perfect kitty cat with a tummy full of fired clay. That could be removed to create a hollow inside. Maybe the perfect space for a cat mummy to spend eternity? [spooky organ scale]

I’m sure that being hollow on the inside is where the rumors that I’m heartless came from. But that’s also not true. How can I be heartless when I love me? [harp, then meow]

Now, on to the rumors about my age. Because of my youthful and smooth appearance, for a long time, experts didn’t believe I was really an ancient Egyptian cat. They thought I was merely a young copycat, a fake! [crowd gasps]

To prove that I was authentically me, I had to go through all sorts of tests. [beeping heart monitor]

They told me it was all perfectly safe, but still I was quite nervous. If you’ve ever been to a hospital, you’ll understand what I mean. The lights, sounds, and machines can be very overwhelming. But just like you have to be brave so nurses and doctors can make you feel better, I had to be brave to prove my doubters wrong!

Here’s how it went down.

[energetic music begins]

First, a team of conservators and other experts brought me into their laboratory.

Conservators are like doctors who keep artworks like yours truly healthy. They use the latest tools to understand how we’re made and what we’re made from so they can keep us looking and feeling our best.

Once the conservators got me in the lab, they took x-rays, did metal analysis, and used teeny tiny microscopes to check my insides. [machine whirring]

[music ends]

Have you ever gotten an x-ray? Maybe to find a broken bone? The experts didn’t find a broken bone, but they did discover something rattling around in my head. [clay ball rattling]

Bits of ancient clay perhaps? I would need surgery to pull out the item stuck inside. So I was taken off of my wooden base and a conservator reached inside and expertly removed a piece of material that was near my ear. [person says “hmm”] A sample of that material was carefully packaged and was sent to a laboratory in Oxford, England for testing. Like I said, I’m a very fancy cat. [airplane takes off]

It turned out the material could be dated to between 1,700 and 2,700 years ago! So, we have real proof that I wasn’t lying about my age! My youthful glow is from an experimental skincare regimen involving beeswax and plenty of rest.

[crowd claps, then cat yawns]

Wow! Setting the record straight is exhausting. Back to the vault. I’m sure now that the truth is out, I am going to have the best cat nap of my nine lives.

[theme music begins]

Host: I hope you enjoyed learning about cats and conservation. Join us next time when a fish flask swims into the studio. [bubbling and a splash]

To see photographs of the Bastet statuette and learn more about her conservation, visit our website at Getty dot edu slash podcasts.

This episode was written by Tocarra Elise and produced by Zoe Goldman. Chloe Mei Li Bundt voiced the statuette. Theme music, mixing and sound design by Alexandra Kalinowski. Christopher Sprinkle is executive producer.

Special thanks to curators Ken Lapatin, Judith Barr, Hana Sugioka, and Sara Cole, as well as conservator Susanne Gänsicke.

Catch you next time!

[theme music ends]