souvenir of their visit at the feet of Bâst. It was a votive stele
with a fine inscription, and a picture showing the donor worshiping
his goddess; or a statuette in blue or green pottery, or if they were
wealthy, in bronze, silver, or sometimes gold: the goddess would be
standing, seated, crouching, with a woman's body and a cat's head, a
sistrum or an ægis in her hand. During the Greek period the figures
were in bronze or in painted or gilded wood surmounted by a cat's head
in bronze, many were life-size and modeled with elaborate art; they
had eyes of enamel and amulets on the forehead."

The learned authority went on to explain that these accumulated
offerings were after a time stored by the priests in cellars or in
pits dug expressly for them, "veritable _favissæ_ similar to those of
classical times." They accumulated in thousands, large and small, some
intact and fresh as when just made, others already out of shape and of
no value. The places of concealment were soon forgotten, and the
stores hidden therein reposed beyond the reach of men until the day
when the chances of excavation brought them to light.

My notes completed, I turned my attention to the little image of green
enamel ware which Gatton had left with me for examination. It was not
possible to determine the period at which it was buried, but judging
from the contours and general forms, together with the aspect of the
enamel, I thought I recognized the style of the second Saïte Period,
and attributed the piece to the early Ptolemies, or the fourth century
B.C. It was the time when the worship of Bâst and her subordinate
forms, Pakh, Maît, was most popular, the period when the most
extensive cemetery of cats was established in Egypt. The execution of
the little figure was pure Egyptian, and in no way betrayed Greek
influence.