Situated at the intersection of Africa, Asia and Europe, the land of Egypt includes hot, sandy deserts crisscrossed by the winding passages of the Nile, which makes its way into the Mediterranean. The ancient Egyptians left a huge legacy that helps us understand many interesting aspects of their life and culture, one of which is their peculiar attitude towards cats.
Cats were called “Mau” in ancient Egypt, and from the beginning this animal held a special place as a protector of crops in the country, as cats killed rodents and snakes. Thanks to this, cats began to be considered as protectors and as a result, they were domesticated. Moreover, DNA comparisons show that many species of modern cats are descendants of the Egyptian.
The ancient Egyptians admired the friendly, playful and intelligent features of cats. There is ample historical and archaeological evidence that the cat was an integral part of the ordinary ancient Egyptian family.
The ancient Greek historian Herodotus, who traveled to Ancient Egypt, mentioned in one of his travels the importance of domestic cats. Herodotus wrote that in ancient Egypt, a beloved cat was considered a friend and family member. When the cat died, the family went into deep mourning, funeral rituals were performed, and the men shaved their eyebrows to express their grief.
In the desert on the outskirts of the city of Beni Hasan in 1888, an Egyptian farmer came across the burial of several thousand cats. Their bodies were artificially mummified, which indicates the reverent attitude of the owners towards them.
Some ancient gods and goddesses are depicted as big cats. The goddess Bastet was represented in the guise of a domestic cat. All cats were considered her manifestation, and Bastet herself was depicted as a young woman with a cat's head. Due to the fact that domestic cats were known for their mysterious and secretive nature, as well as the ability to see in the dark, Bastet and all her earthly manifestations began to be associated with the kingdom of the dead.
According to Herodotus, the populations of cats around the temples of the city of Bubastis were so large that they were regularly sacrificed to the goddess, and the bodies were mummified and sold to pilgrims as relics. To make cats feel good in the afterlife, she was buried with toys that she loved during her lifetime and even with mummies of mice. The cats of the rich were wrapped in woven linen with patterns and sacred texts, and a golden mask was put on their heads. The mummy was placed in a wooden or limestone sarcophagus, sometimes decorated with gold as well. Even the kittens were buried in small bronze boxes. As a result of archaeological excavations carried out near Bubastis in 1980, a cemetery was discovered, a kind of feline City of the Dead, on which hundreds of thousands of cats rested. Most of them were buried in richly decorated sarcophagi. In total, archaeologists have discovered about three hundred thousand mummies of cats belonging to the reign of the second - fourth dynasty (third millennium BC).
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Cats have become a very important and common sacred symbol, starting to appear on objects such as jewelry, clothing, mirrors, etc. The art of the ancient world was filled with wooden and bronze figurines of cats, which were made and sold as decorative ornaments, protection from evil spirits, and for funeral ceremonies.
Ancient Egyptian law prohibited the killing of cats, except, of course, when it was done for sacrificial purposes. The export of cats was prohibited by law and amounted to theft of the pharaoh's property. Moreover, when the Egyptians went on campaigns or equipped trade caravans and found cats in foreign lands, they bought or kidnapped them in order to return them back to Egypt, to which they believed they belonged.
A curious story is associated with cats, according to which (according to the historian Ptolemy), in 525 BC. e. cats decisively influenced the outcome of the siege of the border city of Pelusia by the troops of the Persian king Cambyses II. The Persians did not know how to storm fortified cities and were forced to stop at the city walls. However, the Persian king Cambyses was well aware of the cat's influence on the Egyptians. An order was given to find cats in the area and tie them to the shields of the warriors in front so that they were clearly visible (according to another version, the cats were simply drawn by the soldiers on their shields). When the army of the Persians moved forward, protected by shields with cats, the pharaoh did not dare to turn arrows and spears into enemies, fearing to kill the cats. There was confusion and confusion. The fight was lost. Nevertheless,cats in Egypt did not lose their position of god until the conquest of the country by the Greeks.
Author: bin309