Cats in ancient Egypt

You may have heard it say that they worshipped cats in ancient Egypt, but is that true? Let's look into cats and ancient Egypt!

History.com quotes Monique Skidmore, a professor of anthropology at Deakin University to say that “Cats were not worshipped as gods themselves, but as vessels that the gods chose to inhabit, and whose likeness gods chose to adopt." 

One of the ancient egyptian cat gods was Bastet and historycooperative says she was believed to take the form of a cat. She was originally depicted as a fierce lioness, but became the cat goddess associated with domestic cats and kittens. She kept harmony in the home and was the protector of mothers. Bastet's personality often focused on the nuturing aspect of being a mother, but she was still fierce! Afterall, have you ever seen a mother cat defending it's kittens? Mothers can be ferocious too! 

Bastet might be the most well known ancient egyptian cat god, but not the only one!  Another one was Sekhmet. Historycooperative says Sekhmet was Bastet's twin and took on more of the role of fierce protector when Bastet became the nurturing figure. She has the form of a lion and in one famous myth was so bloodthirsty that she was known as the "Mistress of Dread" and the Sun god Ra had to get her drunk enough to go to sleep to stop her from slaugtering mortals! Bastet and Sekhmet together represent a sort of cat ying and yang - two sisters representing life and death, and historycooperative also notes that they were also associated with parts of Egypt - Bastet represented Lower Egypt and Sekhmet was Upper Egypt.

Besides just being associated with gods and mythology, there were plenty of actual cats in Egypt too! Egyptian ancient cats were treasured members of the family. Ancient cats in  ancient Egypt, like today, had the important job of pest control. And Egyptian pests didn't just include mice and rats, thecollector.com also notes that cats help keep people safe from more dangerous pests like scorpions and snakes (including venomous snakes!). 

Cats in Egypt weren't just popular pets for their pest hunting skills or for their association with the gods. In those days, the pharaohs were the ultimate influencers and they kept cats too, even big cats like lions, and dressed their cats with gold and fed them from the table. While the average person might not have had gold jewelry for their cats, just having a cat was a way to live like a royal! 

A lot of what we know about cats lives in ancient Egypt comes from artwork from tombs. History.com says that the tomb was seen as your home for the rest of eternity, so you would include your family, your greatest acheivements and your favorite things, so the addition of cats in tombs speaks to how important they were to their ancient Egyptian families! Cats in tomb paintings are often depicted sitting or laying beneath chairs, playing or chasing birds - you know, being cats!

Cats in tombs were not just limited to paintings. There were also cat mummies! Historycooperative.org relates that the Greek historian Herodotus tells us that when a beloved cat family member died, the eygptian family would shave off their eyebrows to show their grief. Then the cat might be mummified and placed in a pet cemetary or join the personal tomb of it's owner. Countless cat mummies have been found. Often tomb cats would have elaborate head dresses or their own sarcophagi!

And did you know that the ancient Eygptians loved their cats so much that it actually led to a defeat in battle? Thecollector tells a story of the Persian king Cambyses II, who noted the Eygptian's love of cats and reluctance to harm them and rounded up animals, including many cats, and marched them in front of his army. He also painted cats on the shields of his soldiers. The Egyptian defenders were reluctant to hurt the oncoming cats (and get on Bastet's bad side!) and offered little resistance, which allowed the Persians to capture the city of Pelusium!

Cats may not have been worshipped as gods in ancient Egypt as you sometimes hear, but they played a vital role in ancient Egypt, from it's day to day life in keeping pests under control, to accompanying their owners in death and even to the downfall of a city! 

Cover photo by Rafaëlla Waasdorp on Unsplash