Beni Hasan (also written as Bani Hasan, or also Beni-Hassan) (Arabic: بني حسن) is an Ancient Egyptian cemetery site. It is located approximately 20 kilometers to the south of modern-day Minya in the region known as Middle Egypt, the area between Asyut and Memphis.
In 1968 a tomb was uncovered near a small shrine to the cat goddess Bastet. The site appeared to be looted long ago, during antiquity. The Mummy of the tomb’s owner was long gone, and most of the hieroglyphs identifying the owner had crumbled with age. Although not a royal tomb, it did appear to be the tomb of an important official of the the royal court of Rameses II.
The mystery did not end there.An enameled wooden box was discovered amid the debris of the tomb. It contained twenty-one tiny mummified kittens, each with it’s own unique bronze amulet.
The names on the amulets translated as:
- Nakau
- Sethnakht
- Tawosret
- Djau
- Nekeba
- Urhi
- Teshub
- Siptah
- Piankh
- Maru
- Meket
- Kharbat
- Hrere
- Illahet
- Shebitko
- Sakka
- Hetepi
- Sekhem
- Nefarud
- Rikare
- Khanut
The small kitten mummies were taken to the Cairo Museum shortly after their discovery for further study. Unfortunately, the last noted report of their whereabouts was a catalog entry made during an inventory of the museum in February 1972.
The mummies have not been seen since… Until now.
mummifiedkittenz 