Mummified Cat Found In The Attic

On February 2013, Robert Gray, 56, a bed-and-breakfast owner from Portscatho, Cornwall found a mysterious cat mummy which left in his attic for 40 years. Later it has been verified as 2,000 years old and Egyptian. He said he found the artifact in the loft, where it had lain since being given in the 1970s to his father Peter Gray, an Egyptologist who died in 1984.

At first Mr. Gray assumed it was a fake. However, after he met Jane Marley, curator of archaeology and world culture from the Royal Cornwall Museum, and asked her to scan it with the X-rays. It emerged the artifact is a perfectly mummified cat, and the Royal Cornwall Museum in Truro verified the find.

Robert Gray and his mummified cat

Images revealed the outline of a perfectly preserved ancient cat - complete with face, ears, spine and brain. The X-ray images also show the neck of his mummified cat is still intact, suggesting it was a prized pet rather than a sacrifice to the gods.

Mr Gray said: "My father acquired the cat in the 1970s as a token of thanks from a museum. It could fetch a couple of thousands pounds but I will probably donate it to a museum."

Cats were particularly popular subjects during the Ptolemaic period from 305 BC to 30BC because they were believed to represent the war goddess Bastet.

Sources:
Fortean Times Magazine Volume 311 February 2014: "Cat In The Attic"

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2278585/B-B-owner-finds-stuffed-cat-hidden-attic-2-000-year-old-EGYPTIAN-MUMMY.html

http://www.westbriton.co.uk/Mummified-remains-2000-year-old-Egyptian-cat/story-18136940-detail/story.html

Pic Source:
Fortean Times Magazine Volume 311 February 2014: "Cat In The Attic" page 18