Cats were useful for limiting vermin in Egyptian crops and harvest. The people in what would later be Upper and Lower Egypt had a religion centering around the worship of animals, including cats. The cat became the symbol of grace and poise because of killing vermin. The cat goddess Bast (also known as Bastet) eventually replaced the cult of Mafdet, and Bast's image softened over time and she became the deity representing protection, fertility, and motherhood. They were worshiped by the Egyptians and given jewelry in hieroglyphics. The two native Egyptian cat species were the Jungle Cat (Felis chaus) and the African Wildcat (Felis silvestris lybica). Domestication was due to two main reasons; breeding within itself, a large population of cats could develop, and would continue doing so at an exponential rate. Familiarity with human society was aided by the association of cats with the goddess Bast - Egyptian temple priests would often keep cats at their temple as a representative of the goddess. Egypt was not always unified; initially, it was a land with many regional tribes and nomes. Many nomes had a totemistic system of religion, centering the worship of an animal as a spiritual symbol. The earliest evidence of cats as deities comes from a 3100BC crystal cup decorated with an image of the lion-headed goddess Mafdet. The goddess Bast was originally depicted as a fiercely protective and warlike lion, but as her image "softened" over time she became more strongly associated with domestic cats. As cats were sacred to Bast, the practice of mummification was extended to them, and the respect that cats received after death mirrored the respect they were treated with in everyday life. Cats were either mummified or there is new evidence that they can be cremated. Also the cat's body was placed in a linen sheet and carried amidst bitter lamentations by the bereaved to a sacred house where it was treated with drugs and spices by an embalmer. Naville found stacks of cat bones in many pits, the walls of which were made up of bricks and clay. Near each pit lay a furnace, its bricks blackened from fire. This discovery causes some problems. The mummification and preservation of the body was intended to make it possible for the deceased's ka to locate its host and subsequently be reborn into the afterlife.
This reverence is in ancient Indian texts, where records of cats involved with human society can be found in two ancient Indian great epics, the Ramayana and Mahābhārata, circa 500BC. Although no one can pinpoint the time exactly, we know that the cat was domesticated in Egypt, probably around 2000 B.C. and that most modern cats are descendants of the cats of ancient Egypt. The ancient Egyptians took their cats on hunting excursions, especially in the marshes where cats may have been trained to retrieve fowl and fish. Another very common scene in tomb paintings was a cat seated under a woman's chair, showing that the cat had become an integral part of the ancient Egyptian family life. Many Egyptian parents named their children after cats, especially their daughters. Some girls were called Mit or Miut. The mummy of a five-year-old girl named Mirt was found at Deir el-Bahri in King Mentuhotep's temple. The earliest feline cat goddess recorded was called Mafdet and is described in the Pyramid Texts as killing a serpent with her claws. But the most famous cat goddesses in the world, first revered by the ancient Egyptians were Bastet (also known as Bast, Pasch, Ubasti) and the lion-headed Sekhmet. Bastet was often depicted as having the body of a woman and the head of a domestic cat. She was associated with the Eye of Ra, acting within the sun god's power. The Egyptians loved Bastet so much that she became a household goddess and protector of women, children and domestic cats. She was also the goddess of sunrise, music, dance, pleasure, as well as family, fertility and birth.
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