Two cats surmounting a box for an animal mummy 664-30 B.C. Late Period-Ptolemaic Period Bastet was a powerful goddess of Lower Egypt, one who was protective and could bring about great prosperity. In zoomorphic form, she was represented as a cat and cats were considered sacred to her. As a cat, she is poised and alert, on guard against external forces. Here two cats surmount a square box that would have once held an animal mummy. Such mummy boxes were deposited in catacombs alongside linen-wrapped cat mummies, as at the extensive catacombs at Bubastis and Saqqara.. Two cats surmounting a box for an animal mummy 570733