Sarcophagus of Prince Thutmose’s Cat

Thutmose was the oldest son of Amenhotep III (and probably Tiye), but he died prematurely and Amenhotep IV took the throne instead (later Akhenaten). This is one of the few things that has the name of Thutmose on it, if it didn’t exist we wouldn’t know he had been Crown Prince.

But it’s not some solemn and grand thing, it’s the sarcophagus in which his pet cat was buried. I like the way the cat is portrayed on its sarcophagus with all due formality, seated before its very own table of offerings wearing a rather fine scarf.

And I like that the grand Crown Prince, Overseer of the Priest of Upper and Lower Egypt, High Priest of Ptan in Memphis and sem-Priest Thutmose still loved his cat enough to ensure it was well fed in the afterlife!

Now in the Cairo Museum, acc. no.: CG5003 (although not everyone is convinced of its authenticity, I found a paper by Heimo Hohneck from 2014 which casts doubt on it but I don’t have full access to the paper (or good enough German) to see what he says).