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Description
Around 2000 BC or shortly thereafter, ancient Egyptian pharaoh Nebhepetre Mentuhotep II (founder of the Middle Kingdom) lost one of his wives, Princess Mayet, whom he buried at the Theban Necropolis in a wooden coffin decorated with eyes and other traditional motifs. As Mayet's name means "meow," her coffin was lent by the Brooklyn Museum in New York City to the Smithsonian Freer Sackler Gallery in Washington, D.C. for the exhibit "Divine Felines: Cats of Ancient Egypt."

Description
Around 2000 BC or shortly thereafter, ancient Egyptian pharaoh Nebhepetre Mentuhotep II (founder of the Middle Kingdom) lost one of his wives, Princess Mayet, whom he buried at the Theban Necropolis in a wooden coffin decorated with eyes and other traditional motifs. As Mayet's name means "meow," her coffin was lent by the Brooklyn Museum in New York City to the Smithsonian Freer Sackler Gallery in Washington, D.C. for the exhibit "Divine Felines: Cats of Ancient Egypt."