Cats in Ancient Egypt

Cats (Felis silvestris catus), known in Ancient Egypt as "mau", were important in ancient Egyptian society. Based on recent DNA comparisons of living species, it has been estimated that cats were first domesticated from the Middle Eastern subspecies of the Wildcat about 10,000 years ago in the Fertile Crescent.[1][2] Thousands of years later, the peoples in what would later be Upper and Lower Egypt had a religion centering around the worship of animals, including cats.
Praised for controlling vermin and its ability to kill snakes such as cobras, the domesticated cat became a symbol of grace and poise. The goddess Mafdet, the deification of justice and execution, was a lion-headed goddess. The cat goddess Bast (also known as Bastet) eventually replaced the cult of Mafdet, and Bast's image softened over time and she became the deity representing protection, fertility, and motherhood.
As a revered animal and one important to Egyptian society and religion, some cats received the same mummification after death as humans. Mummified cats were given in offering to Bast.[citation needed] In 1888, an Egyptian farmer uncovered a large tomb with mummified cats and kittens. This discovery outside the town of Beni Hasan had eighty thousand cat mummies, dating to 2000-1000 BC. ... more

I like cats. But.....

Copying and pasting wikipedia articles,

Does not a thread make.

And yet, in other cultures, cats are considered food.

Why is it legal to eat horses but not cats? Horses are noble creatures, and have been Man's companion for probably around 5000 years. Horses are arguably more intelligent, feel emotion, and serve a greater purpose as a work animal.

I'd much prefer eating a cat over a horse. Dogs aren't edible in my opinion, too intelligent, social, and emotional. Cats are just big rats though - my only aversion to using them for stew is that they're dirty little things.

reply to post by TinkerHaus


That is, maybe, the consequence of bubastis cult? Cats as gods, subject of idolatry, produced that?
You know, cats are hunting mice, even rats, snakes, and, in that way, deffending the households...
They don't bark, they do not bite, and, because of that, they are not dangerous as dogs are.
They eat less that dogs, in that way, they are more economic, and, the most important,
THEY ARE SO CUDDLY...

You are suppose to use the EX-TEXT button to show that not one word of this thread is your own.

here's a nice egyptian tourist stone cat head i picked up. it's cool that cats were so revered.
they're cool animals.

reply to post by dragnik


Cats do attack, and cats are more vicious than dogs. Cats carry the bacteria Bartonella henselae on their claws and can cause serious infection when they scratch. About 22,000 cases are reported annually in the US.

Source

Additionally, being around cat feces, which most if not all cat owners are, can cause toxoplasmosis. Toxoplasmosis can cause serious problems with pregnant women and their unborn children.

And you can't take a cat on a hike!


The Ancient Egyptians worshiped all sorts of animals.. I don't think that cats are anything really that special. There are breeds of dogs that combat vermin, and are much more effective at doing so due to the canine's social nature and ability to be trained.

Originally posted by TinkerHaus
And yet, in other cultures, cats are considered food.

Why is it legal to eat horses but not cats? Horses are noble creatures, and have been Man's companion for probably around 5000 years. Horses are arguably more intelligent, feel emotion, and serve a greater purpose as a work animal.

I'd much prefer eating a cat over a horse. Dogs aren't edible in my opinion, too intelligent, social, and emotional. Cats are just big rats though - my only aversion to using them for stew is that they're dirty little things.

You imply that whether we are allowed to eat something or not is based on it's intelligence and usefulness, and ability to feel emotion. Which I'm not denying. That's pretty much what it is based on. But who defines what isn't and isn't intelligent, or useful? Everybody has different opinions on intelligence and usefulness.

If that's the case, then why is it illegal to eat severely retarded people? They don't serve any purpose in society, and have very little intelligence. Not that I want to eat them, I'm just trying to make a point lol.

I would say the Egyptians knew exactly what they were trying to preserve in mummifying so many cats.

I now have a cat and her first job was to kill all the mice that came in.
The next was to kill all the flies that came in.
Now they are under control I have given her another job.

That is to use her purr to heal our muscles. All 4 of us have EDS and we are constantly dislocating our joints causing tears in our muscles. Only the other night she came up to me and was purring all over a pulled shoulder.
The next day I felt 200% better.
She is doing her job.

The Egyptians also wrote they can knit broken bones.

And viscious animals are only as viscious as man makes them.

the reason why egyptians liked and kept cats .. is no mythic mystery.
its practical, common sense!

in reality (and religous myth) the biggest killers of egyptians and most feared by pharaohs and egyptian gods
were two things:

snakes and scorpions

and how do you protect yourself against these beings...
get a cat

peace

I like fluffy kittys.

On topic: I've always wondered about the origins of the domestic feline. Thanks for the thread.

Originally posted by TinkerHaus
And yet, in other cultures, cats are considered food.

Why is it legal to eat horses but not cats? Horses are noble creatures, and have been Man's companion for probably around 5000 years. Horses are arguably more intelligent, feel emotion, and serve a greater purpose as a work animal.

I'd much prefer eating a cat over a horse. Dogs aren't edible in my opinion, too intelligent, social, and emotional. Cats are just big rats though - my only aversion to using them for stew is that they're dirty little things.

edit on 23-3-2013 by TinkerHaus because: (no reason given)

Wow,
You are an anti feline, whatever

I don't agree with the eating of horses either but what does that have to do with ancient cat domestication.
You obviously have a deep seated cat thing going on,

reply to post by dragnik


Thank you for that post

What ever peoples thought about cats are, cats have had an important part in human cultural development.

Cats are jerks.

Originally posted by King_John
Cats are jerks.

kevin's right. ok, maybe there are one or two 'jerky' cats around, but the same goes for all species. some dogs are geeks. i bet.

(but i like dogs too).

reply to post by Xaphan


Yes, that, Alf, this is not Melmac

reply to post by HumansEh


I wanted to consider reasons why cats are pets, not wolves, for an example...
It is very long period we are togehter, men and cats.
Some are saying that cats are satan beasts who wants to destroy mankind

Ancient Egyptians had children, families, and survived, and they loved cats. They did not destroy them.
It is forbidden at us to eat cats (and dogs, of course). It was, anyway.
If one puts cat meat into hamburger, here, that one gets to jail!

reply to post by thePharaoh

Snakes and scorpions?

Cats do sometimes attack snakes—I've seen one of my own cats do that, but it wasn't a venomous snake. I've never seen or heard of a cat messing with a scorpion.

I should say that cats were originally tolerated and encouraged because of their usefulness in protecting grain stores against rodents. It is probably not coincidence that their domestication dates to the dawn of agriculture.

It used to be thought that cats were first domesticated in Egypt. There is an indigenous Egyptian wildcat, the sand cat, which quite closely resembles the modern felis domestica.