CatsCats, both domestic and wild, were extremely important to Ancient Egyptians. They represented a number of gods and goddesses, including Bastet, Sekhmet and Mafdet.
Cats were first made important when they preyed upon the rats and vermin that ate from the royal food stores The practice of animal mummification most likely started with cats. The animals were treated with extreme respect in both life and death. Herodotus wrote that men would guard fires to make sure that no cats ran into the flames, and that when a cat died, the household would go into mourning as if it was a human relative. Cats were so important that even the accidental killing of one led to death. A Greek historian, Diodorus Siculus, in 60 BC, witnessed a Roman soldier accidentally run over an Egyptian cat with a chariot. A mob gathered and, despite protestations from pharaoh Ptolemy XII, killed the soldier. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cats_in_ancient_Egypt |
Cats were seen as guardians of the underworld, and could protect against evil.
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