Nobody knows how long a person and a cat live together. According to some sources, this time is 10,000 years, according to others - 6,000 years. But it is known when cats began to be tamed in Ancient Egypt. This happened in the 3rd millennium BC.
Domestication of the cat in this ancient civilization was dictated by the dire necessity. Ancient Egypt was primarily an agricultural country. The scourge of any agrarian country is rodents, which reduce the harvest. Initially, the cat fought against rodents, snakes, and was valued only for this. In addition, the cat hunted rats - carriers of the plague, and thereby saved people's lives.
Interestingly, cats were expensive animals and were only acquired by wealthy people. But soon, because of their fertility, they lived in every poor and rich house.
Cats began to be revered as sacred animals. This happened at the beginning of the 3rd millennium BC, when the city of Bubastis was built, the main place where the goddess Bast was worshiped, who was considered the goddess of fertility, home, fun, motherhood. The appearance of the goddess is that of a woman with the head of a cat. And cats began to be identified with this goddess.
Cats, already loved by people for their useful qualities, began to be protected by religion. They were worshiped like a god. If the cat died, it was mummified, and the owners mourned for it for 70 days (this is the time of mummification). Then the cats were buried in specially designated cemeteries.