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Cat-headed deity Bastet. In ancient Egypt, cats were represented in social and religious scenes dating as early as 1980 BC. [2] Several ancient Egyptian deities were depicted and sculptured with cat-like heads such as Mafdet, Bastet and Sekhmet, representing justice, fertility, and power, respectively. [3]
Cats are rarely mentioned in ancient Greek literature, [11] but Aristotle does remark in his History of Animals that "female cats are naturally lecherous." [10]: 74 [11] The Greek essayist Plutarch linked cats with cleanliness, noting that unnatural odours could make them mad. [12] Pliny linked them with lust, [13] and Aesop with deviousness ...
Ta-Miu (Egyptian: tꜣ mjw "She-Cat"), 14th century BC. The cat of Crown Prince Thutmose, mummified after her death and buried in a decorated sarcophagus in Prince Thutmose's own tomb following his own early demise. [3] Muezza, 7th century AD. The (possibly apocryphal) cat of the Islamic prophet Muhammad.
In ancient Egypt, cats were revered not only as pets and hunters, but also as divine beings. They were associated with Ra, the sun god, and his daughter Bastet, the goddess of fertility, home, joy ...
Bastet (Ancient Egyptian: bꜣstt), also known as Ubasti, [a] or Bubastis, [b] is a goddess of ancient Egyptian religion possibly of Nubian origin, worshipped as early as the Second Dynasty (2890 BC). In ancient Greek religion, she was known as Ailuros (Koinē Greek: αἴλουρος, lit. 'cat').
The cat was the sacred and peculiar animal of Bast, who is represented with the head of a cat or a lioness and frequently accompanies the deity Ptah in monumental inscriptions. The tombs at Bubastis were accordingly the principal depository in Egypt of the mummies of the cat. [15] [16]
The Obsequies of an Egyptian Cat, by John Reinhard Weguelin (1886). Ancient Egyptian religion was characterized by polytheism, the worship of multiple deities. [4] Prior to the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt, there were a tremendous number of these deities, each patron of a different element of the natural world. [5]
In ancient Egypt, cats were revered, and the goddess Bastet often depicted in cat form, sometimes taking on the war-like aspect of a lioness. The Greek historian Herodotus reported that killing a cat was forbidden, and when a household cat died, the entire family mourned and shaved their eyebrows.