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The 26th Dynasty, also known as the Saite Period, is
traditionally placed by scholars at the end of the
Third Intermediate Period or at the beginning of the
Late Dynastic Period. In either case, the Saite Period
rose from the ashes of a decentralized Egyptian state
that had been ravaged by foreign occupation.
Supported by the assistance of a powerful family
centered in the Delta town of Sais, the Assyrians
finally drove the Nubians out of Egypt. At the close of
this campaign, Ashurbanipal’s kingdom was at the
height of its power; however, due to civil strife back
east, he was forced to withdraw his forces from
Egypt. Psamtik I, a member of the family from Sais,
seized this opportunity to assert his authority over
the entire Nile Valley and found his own dynasty, the
26th of Egyptian history. Known as the Saite Period
due to the importance of the capital city Sais, the
26th Dynasty, like many before it, sought to emulate
the artistic styles of past pharaoh in order to bolster
their own claims to power and legitimize their
authority.
Yet despite that artist sought to replicate models of
the past, Egyptian art of this era was infused with a
heightened sense of naturalism. This fact is likely due
to the influx of Greek culture. The Saite rulers
recognized that Egypt had fallen behind the rest of
the Mediterranean world in terms of military
technology. Thus, they were forced to rely upon
foreign mercenaries, many of whom were Greek. With
ties between these two cultures firmly established
during the 7th Century B.C., commercial trading
quickly blossomed. Special entrepots for foreign
traders were established, including the famed center
of Naucratis, a Delta town in which Greek merchants
were permitted access. During the Saite Period, two
great powers of the Mediterranean world became
intimately linked, commercially and culturally. As the
exchange of ideas flowed across the sea, the Greeks
began to experiment on a monumental scale while
the Egyptians began to approach art with an
enhanced sense of realism.
Ancient Egyptians venerated cats for their ability to
keep down the rodent population in the economically
important grain fields along the Nile. They were kept
as pets in the home and assisted hunters by
retrieving their small birds like dogs do today.
Because they were economically useful and believed
to ensure many children for a family, cats were
revered to the point that they were mummified and
buried either with their owners or in specially
designated cemeteries. The Egyptians had a cat
goddess, Bastet, also known as Bast, who was
depicted with the body of a woman and the head of a
cat, or just as a cat. Goddess of joy, music, and
dance, the cult of Bastet was centered in Bubastis in
the Nile River Delta, home of the 22nd Dynasty.
Although her cult can be traced back to the 4th
millennium B.C., she did not become a central
goddess until Bubastis became the capital.
Herodotus describes her temple in Bubastis as a
sanctuary of great splendor, rivaled only in its scope
and elegance by the temples of Ra and Horus.
This bronze sculpture of Bastet is a masterpiece of
Egyptian art. She is represented with the head of a
cat and the body of a woman dressed in a tightly
fitting robe. She carries a sistrum rattle in her raised
right arm, alluding to her identity as a goddess of
music. Gold earrings decorate her pierced ears. It
was known that pet cats were also dressed with such
luxurious adornments. Certain objects, masterpieces
treasured in their own time, are of an eternal beauty
that is easily appreciated regardless of era or culture.
This magnificent bronze sculpture is one such rare
example.
- (X.0337)
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