The Shanghai Museum has drawn crowds this summer time for an exhibition of historical Egyptian relics, together with cat statues and different feline imagery, which on Saturday nights permits as much as 200 guests to deliver their very own four-legged buddies.
Impressed by the traditional Egyptian cult of Bastet, the goddess of safety usually depicted as a cat, the museum has given cats the prospect to work together with a part of the exhibition referred to as “The Secrets and techniques of Saqqara.”
“Egyptian archaeological groups found a cat temple in Saqqara and unearthed many cat mummies and statues. So after we had been planning the occasion, cats had been the theme after which the concept of ​​’Meow Evening’ got here up,” stated Li Feng, deputy director of the Shanghai Museum.
The exhibition “High of the Pyramids: Historical Egyptian Civilization” opened on July 19 and can run till August 17, 2025. The “Evening of Meow” is deliberate for no less than 10 Saturdays. Up to now, six tickets have been held, together with 200 to deliver a cat, which have been offered out on every event.
Guests deliver their cats in carriers or pet strollers and might take them out solely in designated areas, akin to to take a photograph subsequent to a statue of Bastet.
Cats are screened upon entry to make sure they’re updated on vaccinations and for indicators of sickness or stress. There are veterinarians on web site and cat aid areas in case the stimulation of their evening on the museum turns into an excessive amount of.
“It’s extremely particular to have the ability to deliver a cat with you,” stated customer Qiu Jiakai, who attended the “Meow Evening” with one-year-old kitten An Mao.
“I heard the narrator’s introduction saying… lots of as we speak’s home cats are associated to cats domesticated in historical Egypt. So I believed I’d deliver my cat right here to see her ancestors and the feline goddess,” she stated.
