An account of the CT and micro CT scan of the ancient Egyptian cat mummy from The Beaney Museum, Canterbury.
James Elliott - July 2026
Cat mummy - From The Beaney Museum, Canterbury Museums and Galleries
What is the project?
This project concerns the ancient Egyptian mummified cat from The Beaney Museum in Canterbury. The cat is available to view on the first floor of the museum.
At the request of Craig Bowen, museum manager, the cat accompanied the mummified head for a CT scan at Maidstone Nuclear Medicine Department in November 2021. Dana Goodburn-Brown kindly brought the cat and assisted with the scanning, along with the expertise of Tristan Barnden and Joanna Sillars from Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust.
As with the head, little is known about the cat and records are limited. However, it is well preserved and the CT scan provided a non-invasive method of inspecting the internal contents. As luck would have it, Dana also sought the assistance of Kent University who had recently installed a micro-CT scanner. Professor Matthew Skinner kindly donated his time and access to the micro CT scanner.
What do we know so far?
Inspection of the scans reveals that this was a young cat when it died. The micro-CT data allows greater detail and shows a probable break in its neck, a common way of dispatching cats during the production of mummified cats (as votive offerings). A sample of wrapping has been sent for carbon dating (2026), which will hopefully demonstrate which time period of the ancient Egyptian civilisation came from. Any excess sample will be inspected by Dana, to assess for production method.
This project is ongoing.
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