Cats in the Ancient World
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| Colorful Cat Mosaic from a dining room (triclinium) in the House of the Faun in Pompeii (Photo credit: mharrsch) |
Although it has been commonly accepted that cats were first domesticated in Egypt 4000 years ago, their History among human beings goes back much further. Wild cats are now known to have lived among the people of Mesopotamia
over 100,000 years ago and to have been domesticated there
approximately 12,000 BCE at about the same time as dogs, sheep, and
goats. Archaeological excavations in the past ten years have provided
evidence that the Near Eastern Wildcat is the closest relative of the
modern-day domestic cat and was bred by Mesopotamian
farmers, most probably as a means of controlling pests, such as mice,
which were attracted by grain supplies. The writer David Derbyshire
cites a 2007 CE research project in which, “the study used DNA samples
from 979 wild and domestic cats to piece together the feline family
tree. They looked for markers in mitochondrial DNA - a type of genetic
material passed down from mothers to kittens which can reveal when wild
and domestic cat lineages were most closely related.” This project was
headed by Dr. Andrew Kitchener, a Zoologist at the National Museums of Scotland, who writes, "This shows that the origin of domestic cats was not Ancient
Egypt - which is the prevailing view - but Mesopotamia and that it
occurred much earlier than was thought. The last common ancestor of
wildcats and domesticated cats lived more than 100,000 years ago”
(Derbyshire). Dr. Kitchener’s findings built upon the evidence of cat’s Domestication provided by the discovery in 1983 CE of a cat skeleton in a Grave dating to 9,500 BCE on the island of Cyprus. This find, made by the archaeologist Alain le Brun, was important because Cyprus had no indigenous cat population and it is unlikely that settlers would have brought a wild cat by boat, to the island.
The cat’s association with ancient Egypt, however, is understandable in that Egyptian Culture
was famous for its devotion to the cat. The export of cats from Egypt
was so strictly prohibited that a branch of the government was formed
solely to deal with this issue. Government agents were dispatched to
other lands to find and return cats which had been smuggled out. It is
clearly established that, by 450 BCE, the penalty in Egypt for killing a
cat was Death (though this Law
is thought to have been observed much earlier). The goddess Bastet,
commonly depicted as a cat or as a woman with a cat’s head, was among
the most popular deities of the Egyptian pantheon. She was the keeper of
hearth and home, protector of women’s secrets, guardian against evil
spirits and disease, and the goddess of cats. Her ritual centre was the City of Bubastis (“House of Bastet”) in which, according to Herodotus (484-425 BCE), an enormous Temple
complex was built in her honour in the centre of the city. Herodotus
also relates that the Egyptians cared so much for their cats that they
placed their safety above human life and property. When a house caught
fire, the Egyptians would concern themselves more with rescuing the cats
than with anything else, often running back into the burning building
or forming a perimeter around the flames to keep cats at a safe
distance. When a cat died, Herodotus writes, “All the inhabitants of a
house shave their eyebrows [as a sign of deep mourning]. Cats which have
died are taken to Bubastis where they are embalmed and buried in sacred
receptacles” (Nardo 117). The Period
of mourning was considered completed when the people’s eyebrows had
grown back. Mummified cats have been found at Bubastis and elsewhere
throughout Egypt, sometimes buried with, or near to, their owners as
evidenced by identifying seals on the mummies.
The greatest example of Egyptian devotion to the cat, however, comes from the Battle of Pelusium (525 BCE) in whichCambyses II of Persia defeated the forces of the Egyptian Pharaoh Psametik III to Conquer
Egypt. Knowing of the Egyptian’s love for cats, Cambyses had his men
round up various animals, cats chiefly among them, and drive the animals
before the invading forces toward the fortified city of Pelusium on the
Nile. The Persian
soldiers painted images of cats on their shields, and may have held cats
in their arms, as they marched behind the Wall
of animals. The Egyptians, reluctant to defend themselves for fear of
harming the cats (and perhaps incurring the death penalty should they
kill one), and demoralized at seeing the image of Bastet on the enemy’s
shields, surrendered the city and let Egypt fall to the Persians. The HistorianPolyaenus
(2nd century CE) writes that, after the surrender, Cambyses rode in
triumph through the city and hurled cats into the faces of the defeated
Egyptians in scorn.
The Egyptians are also responsible for the very name `cat’ in that it derives from the North African
word for the animal, “quattah”, and, as the cat was so closely
associated with Egypt, almost every other European nation employs
variations on this word: French, chat; Swedish, katt; German,
katze; Italian, gatto; Spanish, gato and so forth (Morris, 175). The
colloquial word for a cat - `puss’ or `pussy’ - is also associated with
Egypt in that it derives from the word `Pasht’, another name for Bastet.
Cats are mentioned in the two great literary epics of ancient India, The
Mahabharata and The Ramayana (both c. 5th/4th century BCE). In
Mahabharata a famous passage concerns the cat Lomasa and the mouse
Palita, who help each other escape from death and discuss at length the
nature of relationships, particularly those in which one of the parties
is stronger or more powerful than the other. In the Ramayana, the God
Indra disguises himself as a cat after seducing the beautiful maid
Ahalya as a means to escape from her husband. As was the case everywhere
else, cats in India were
found to be particularly useful in controlling the populations of less
desirable creatures like mice, rats, and snakes and so were honoured in
the homes, farms, and palaces throughout the land. That the cat was seen
as more than just a method of pest control is substantiated by the
reverence accorded to felines in the Literature
of India. The famous story of Puss in Boots (best known through the
French version by Charles Perrault, 1628-1703 CE) is taken from a much
older Indian folk tale in the Panchatantra from the 5th century BCE
(though the character of the cat’s master has a very different
personality in the older tale than the one in Perrault’s story). The
esteem in which cats were held is also evident in the Indian cat
goddess, Sastht, who served much the same role as Bastet and was as
greatly revered.
A Persian tale claims the cat was created magically. The great Persian
hero Rustum, out on campaign, one night saved a magician from a band of
thieves. Rustum offered the older man the hospitality of his tent and,
as they sat outside under the stars, enjoying the warmth of a fire, the
magician asked Rustum what he wished for as a gift in repayment for
saving the man’s life. Rustum told him that there was nothing he desired
since everything he could want, he already had before him in the warmth
and comfort of the fire, the scent of the smoke and the beauty of the
stars overhead. The magician then took a handful of smoke, added flame,
and brought down two of the brightest stars, kneading them together in
his hands and blowing on them. When he opened his hands toward Rustum,
the warrior saw a small, smoke-grey kitten with eyes bright as the stars
and a tiny tongue which darted like the tip of flame. In this way, the
first Persian cat came to be created as a token of gratitude to Rustum.
The prophet Muhammed was also very fond of cats. According to legend,
the `M’ design on the forehead of the tabby cat was made when the
prophet blessed his favourite cat by placing his hand on its head. This
cat, Meuzza, also features in another famous story in which Muhammed,
called to prayer, found the cat asleep on his arm. Rather than disturb
the cat, Muhammed cut the sleeve from his robe and left Meuzza to sleep.
The status of the cat, therefore, was further enhanced by its
association with a figure of divinity.
This was also true in China
where the goddess Li Shou was depicted in cat form and petitions and
sacrifices made to her for pest control and fertility. She too, was a
very popular goddess who was thought to embody the importance of cats in
the early days of creation. An ancient Chinese myth relates that, in
the beginning of the world, the gods appointed cats to oversee the
running of their new creation and, in order for communication to be
clear, granted cats the power of speech. Cats, however, were more
interested in sleeping beneath the cherry trees and playing with the
falling blossoms than with the mundane task of having to pay attention
to the operation of the world. Three times the gods came to check on how
well the cats were doing their job and all three times were
disappointed to find their feline overseers asleep or at play. On the
god’s third visit, the cats explained they had no interest in running
the world and nominated human beings for the position. The power of
speech was then taken from the cats and given to humans but, as humans
seemed incapable of understanding the words of the gods, cats remained
entrusted with the important task of keeping time and so maintaining
order. It was thought that one could tell the time of day by looking
into a cat’s eyes and this belief is still maintained in China.
In Japan, the famous image of the `Beckoning Cat’ (the maneki neko
figure of the cat with one raised paw) represents the goddess of mercy.
The legend goes that a cat, sitting outside of the temple of Gotoku-ji,
raised her paw in acknowledgement of the Emperor
who was passing by. Attracted by the cat’s gesture, the emperor entered
the temple and, moments later, lightning struck the very spot where he
had been standing. The cat, therefore, saved his life and was accorded
great honours. The Beckoning Cat image is thought to bring good luck
when given as a gift and remains a very popular present in Japan. The
cat was regularly considered a guardian of the home and was thought to
be the special protector of valuable books. Cats were often housed in
private pagodas in Japan and were considered so valuable that, by the
10th century CE, only the nobility could afford to own one.
Although cats were kept by people in Greece and Rome, the appreciation for the animal as a hunter was not as great in thosecultures owing to the Greek and Roman practice of keeping domesticated weasels for pest control. The Romans
regarded the cat as a symbol of independence and not as a creature of
utility. Cats were kept as pets by both Greeks and Romans and were
regarded highly. A first century CE epitaph of a young girl holding a
cat is among the earliest pieces of evidence of cats inRome and, in Greece, the playwright Aristophanes frequently featured cats in his works for comic effect (coining
the phrase, “The cat did it” in assigning blame). Among ancient
civilizations, however, the cat was probably least popular among the
Greeks owing to its association with the goddess of death, darkness and
witches, Hecate. A much later development in Greek appreciation for the
cat is evidenced in the legend that the cat protected the baby Jesus
from rodents and snakes and so is accorded the best of spots in a Greek
home but, originally, they do not seem to have been regarded highly.
Cats are thought to have been brought to Europe by Phoenician
traders who smuggled them out of Egypt. As the Phoenicians are
acknowledged to have extensively traded with every known civilization of
the time, cats could have been spread around the region on a fairly
regular basis. It is well documented that cats were kept on ships to
control vermin during the time of the 15th century CE Age of Discovery
and, most likely, they served the same purpose for the Phoenicians. If
the Phoenicians did bring the cat to Europe, as seems very likely, they
may have also introduced the Greek association of the cat with Hecate.
The Greek myth which suggests this link concerns Galinthius, a
maid-servant to the Princess Alcmene. The godZeus seduced Alcmene and she became pregnant with Hercules. Zeus’ wife, Hera, was thwarted in her attempt to kill Alcmene and Hercules through the cleverness of Galinthius. Enraged, Hera
transformed Galinthius into a cat and sent her to the underworld to
ever after serve Hecate. This myth, then, associated cats with darkness,
transformation, the underworld, and witchcraft and, in time, these
associations would prove very unfortunate for the cat.
Although cats seem to have enjoyed their ancient high standing in European countries at first (in Norse mythology, for example, the great goddess Freya is depicted in a chariot drawn by cats and in both Ireland and Scotland
cats are depicted as magical in a positive sense) the Christian Church,
following their regular course of demonizing important pagan symbols,
drew on the pre-existing link between the cat and witchcraft to
associate cats with evil as personified in the Devil. By the Middle
Ages, cats were demonized to the point where they were regularly killed
across Europe. It has long been argued that the death of so many cats
allowed the mice and rat populations to thrive and that the fleas these
vermin carried brought about the Bubonic Plague of 1348 CE. While this
theory has been disputed, there seems no doubt that a decrease in the
cat population would result in an increase in the number of mice and
rats and it is established that there was such a decrease in the number
of cats prior to 1348 CE. Desmond Morris writes, “Because the cat was
seen as evil, all kinds of frightening powers were attributed to it by
the writers of the day. Its teeth were said to be venomous, its flesh
poisonous, its hair lethal (causing suffocation if a few were
accidentally swallowed), and its breath infectious, destroying human
lungs and causing consumption” and further states, “As late as 1658
Edward Topsel, in his serious work on natural history, [wrote] `the
familiars of Witches do most ordinarily appear in the shape of Cats,
which is an argument that this beast is dangerous to soul and body”
(158). The inhabitants of the European nations, believing the cat to be
evil, shunned not only the animal but anyone who seemed overly fond of
the cat. Elderly Women who cared for cats were especially susceptible to punishment for witchcraft simply on the grounds of being so accused.
Cats survived these frenzied superstitions better than many of their
human companions and, during the Victorian Age (1819-1901 CE) were again
elevated to their previous high standing. Queen Victoria of Great Britain
(ruled 1837-1901 CE) became interested in cats through the many stories
of archaeological finds in Egypt being published regularly in England.
Many of these stories included descriptions of the Egyptian reverence
for cats, images of statues of Bastet, and the feline association with
the gods and monarchy. The queen’s interest in the cat led her to adopt
two Blue Persians whom she treated as members of her court. This story
was carried by the newspapers of the day and, as Queen Victoria was a
very popular monarch, more and more people became interested in having
cats of their own. This trend spread to the United States and was
encouraged by the most popular magazine in America at that time, Godey’s
Lady’s Book. Published by Louis A. Godey of Philadelphia from 1830
-1878, this monthly periodical featured stories, articles, poems, and
engravings and is perhaps best known for helping to institutionalize the
practice of the family Christmas tree in America. In an 1860 article,
Godey’s stated that cats were not solely for older women or monarchs and
that anyone should feel comfortable in embracing the “love and virtue”
of the cat. Cat popularity in the United States grew appreciably after
Godey’s article. Cats first came to North America, it is thought, in
1749 CE, from England, to help control the mice and rat population but
they seem to have been largely considered utilitarian until the
Victorian Age.
Many writers of the age owned and admired cats. Charles Dickens was so
devoted to his cats that he allowed them into his study and regularly
allowed his favorite (known as The Master’s Cat) to snuff out the candle
on Dickens’ Writing
desk even when the author was at work. Evidently, the cat would grow
tired of Dickens’ attention being directed toward the page instead of to
feline companionship and petting (Morris, 167). Mark Twain, William
Wordsworth, John Keats, and Thomas Hardy were all great admirers of the
cat and Lewis Carroll, of course, created one of the most enduring
images of the feline through the Cheshire Cat in his Alice’s Adventures
in Wonderland. The first major Cat Show was held at the Crystal Palace
in London in 1871CE and appreciation of the cat was elevated to such a
level that, for the first time, cats were given “specific standards and
classes” which are still used to categorize felines in the present day
(Morris, 148). Cat shows became increasingly popular after this event
and interest in breeding and showing cats spread throughout Europe and
North America. The first cat show in America (in 1895 CE) was so popular
that it was held at the large venue of Madison Square Garden in
Manhattan. From agents of pest control to divine or semi-divine
creatures, to incarnations of evil, and, finally, to house pets, cats
have been the close associates of human beings for centuries. They
continue to be valued companions for people across the world today and,
in this, these individuals carry on the legacy of the ancients in their
devotion to, and appreciation for, the cat.
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