Egyptians believed cats were magical creatures, capable of bringing good luck to the people who housed them. To honor these treasured pets, wealthy families dressed them in jewels and fed them treats fit for royalty.
Ancient Egyptians' love of cats developed from an appreciation of their rodent-catching skills to revering them as sacred creatures. At the ancient site of Saqqara, just outside Cairo, a 4,500-year-old tomb has yielded an unexpected bounty: dozens of mummified cats and cat statues.
It's thought that humans and cats began interacting in Ancient Egypt after 4000 BCE as this is when cats start to appear in visual representations like hieroglyphs and tomb paintings.
In ancient Egypt, cats were sacred animals. People dedicated mummified cats at the sanctuary of the cat goddess Bastet as offerings. The sanctuary was located in the city of Bubastis where the remains of numerous cat mummies and small cat sculptures have been found.
Cats kept the vital crops safe from rodents, becoming an object of admiration. However, the cats did not just chow down on mice and rats. They also killed snakes (many of them venomous) and scorpions, keeping the people safe.
As a sign of mourning, the cat owners shaved off their eyebrows, and continued to mourn until their eyebrows grew back. Art from ancient Egypt shows statues and paintings of every type of feline. Cats were so special that those who killed them, even by accident, were sentenced to death.
Bastet is probably the best-known feline goddess from Egypt. Initially depicted as a lioness, Bastet assumed the image of a cat or a feline-headed woman in the 2nd millennium BCE. Although she combined both nurturing and violent qualities, her shielding and motherly aspects typically were emphasized.
The ancient Egyptians mummified more than just human corpses. Animals were viewed not only as pets, but as incarnations of gods. As such, the Egyptians buried millions of mummified cats, birds, and other creatures at temples honoring their deities.
A cat has the ability to both calm your nervous system and provide an immediate outlet for fun and play. Although cats are independent animals who like to scavenge and explore on their own terms, they are also very affectionate with their owners and people they trust.
Background. Cleopatra is the most beautiful woman in Egypt, she even had a pet cat named Cleocatra, and inside Cleopatra's house was the legendary puppy, Buddasi.
The cat culture continued for centuries, until 30 AD when Egypt became a part of the Roman empire. Several pagan rituals were banned by the Romans in the following centuries, thus cat worshipping and religion grew apart. Since then, the affection and significance for cats declined.
To the ancient Egyptians, this made cats seem like special creatures worthy of attention, and that might explain why they built feline-esque statues.
Cats and religion began to be disassociated after Egypt became a Roman province in 30 BC. A series of decrees and edicts issued by Roman Emperors in the 4th and 5th centuries AD gradually curtailed the practice of paganism and pagan rituals in Egypt.
“Cats were not worshipped as gods themselves, but as vessels that the gods chose to inhabit, and whose likeness gods chose to adopt,” Skidmore explains. Through their ubiquitous presence in the art, fashion and home ornamentation of ancient Egypt, cats served as an everyday reminder of the power of the gods.
It is widely known that Egyptians venerated cats while worshiping cat-deities that represented fertility, power, and justice (Malek 1997). Probably spreading from Egypt to other societies along ancient trade routes, cats eventually came to integrate with different cultures around the world (Ottoni et al 2017).
In Islam, cats are viewed as holy animals. Above all, they are admired for their cleanliness. They are thought to be ritually clean which is why they're allowed to enter homes and even mosques. According to authentic narrations, one may make ablution for prayer with the same water that a cat has drunk from.
One of the key differences between the cat brain vs the dog brain is their cognitive function. As discussed, cats are independent thinkers and problem solvers, while dogs tend to be more socially intelligent and trainable.
? Cat lovers are called ailurophiles derived from the Greek word ailouros, which means "cat," and the suffix -phile, meaning "lover”.
Do Cats Think People Are Cute? Although cats can't give us the answer to this question, studies have led researchers to believe cats do not think people are "cute." Cats appear to treat humans like they treat other cats — so they may think we are larger, hairless cats.
According to Herodotus, later Dynastic Egyptian animal sacrifice became restricted to livestock – sheep, cattle, swine and geese – with sets of rituals and rules to describe each type of sacrifice.
After all, such finds are common in Egypt, where ancient humans preserved dead animals as sacred offerings, food for the afterlife or incarnations of specific deities. Crocodiles, for instance, were associated with Sobek, creator of the Nile and a powerful fertility god.
Cats spread to Europe during the Roman era and went even further during the Viking period. Egyptian cat DNA was even found in a Viking port, suggesting cats were carried on maritime trading routes to northern Europe.
In most cases, cats will purr when they are in a relaxed environment, sending out waves of calmness. This may also occur when you stroke them, and if this is the case, your feline friend is feeling happy or sociable. However, cats purr to communicate other emotions and needs, too.
Bastet, goddess of cats, is one of the most well-known figures of the Egyptian pantheon. She's been known as both Bast and Bastet. Her main attributes include being the Protector of lower Egypt, the patron goddess of cats and firefighters, and being a goddess of the sun, war, fertility, music, and celebration!
However, history shows that even the mightiest empires can fall and after 1100 BCE, Egypt fell into decline. There were several reasons for this including a loss of military power, lack of natural resources, and political conflicts.