The 2,500-Year-Old Mystery of the World’s Strangest Mummified Cat: 3 Tails, 5 Legs Shocking Discovery!

Through CT scanning, experts at the French National Institute for Preventive Archaeological Research (INRAP) discovered the world’s most unusual mummified cat. This ancient Egyptian cat mummy had three tails and five hind legs.

Mummified Cat at the French Museum of Fine Arts

Experts from INRAP scanned the 2,500-year-old Egyptian cat mummy and reconstructed it using 3D modeling. They brought the mummy to a veterinary clinic for imaging and were astonished to find that it was, in fact, a composite made from parts of multiple cats.

The mummy featured five hind legs and three incomplete tails. Remarkably, the cat lacked ribs or a spine, and the head of the mummy turned out to be a woven ball.

From this, researchers concluded that the mummy was created using body parts from various cats rather than a single feline, as is typical.

“There are millions of animal mummies. Some are empty, others contain only a single bone, while sometimes the animal is intact. Some researchers suggest we’re dealing with an ancient priestly scam. On the contrary, we believe there were countless methods for mummifying animals. We’ll learn more after imaging the body,” said researcher Theophane Nicolas.

Mummified Cats as Religious Offerings

Mummifying animals was not just a way to preserve pets but also served as a religious practice. Researchers believe ancient Egyptians offered animal mummies as sacrifices to the gods or placed them in tombs to accompany the deceased into the afterlife.

The ancient Egyptians held cats in high regard and even worshipped Mafdet, a cat-headed goddess, during the First Dynasty (3400–3000 BCE). This deity played a vital role in the spiritual lives of the people, being considered the protector of households, fertility, and healing.

As a result, many temples dedicated to the goddess Bastet were built in Egypt. People regarded cats as sacred animals, symbols of Bastet, and mummified them upon death as a gesture of reverence.

A 2,500-year-old Egyptian cat mummy, scanned by French researchers, revealed an astonishing secret: it was pieced together from multiple cats, featuring five hind legs, three tails, and a head made of woven material. This discovery sheds light on ancient mummification practices, raising questions about the role of animal mummies in Egyptian religion, where cats were revered as sacred symbols of goddess Bastet.