Cat Facts
All Hail the Great Cat!
It’s estimated that ancient Egyptians started domesticating cats around 2,000 BC. “Early Egyptians worshipped a cat goddess and even mummified their beloved pets for their journey to the next world—accompanied by mummified mice!” (National Geographic).
It may have been just this last issue that made them so special as Egyptians struggled with a snake and rodent problem that cats helped to alleviate. “It seems that the cat is in fact indigenous to Egypt. There is evidence that the majority of the world´s cats can trace their ancestry to an Egyptian cat.There were two main breeds of cat native to Ancient Egypt. The jungle cat (Felis chaus) and the African wildcat (Felis silvestris lybica). …The two species eventually merged creating a new breed which was closely related to the modern Egyptian Mau” (more info here)s
“The Mau (mau is the Egyptian word for cat) has been clearly identified in the artwork of the ancient Egyptians, leaving no question in the minds of many experts that the Egyptian Mau is indeed the cat domesticated from a spotted subspecies of the African Wild Cat” (Cat Fanciers’ Association).
As an inscription in the Valley of the Kings states; You are the Great Cat, the avenger of the gods, and the judge of words, and the president of the sovereign chiefs and the governor of the holy Circle; you are indeed the Great Cat.
