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Cats in the Ancient World
Cats and humans have shared in each other's lives for thousands of years and, even though they have not always been regarded as highly as in the present, have played an important role in a number of cultures. Always enigmatic, the cat has...
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Cats in the Middle Ages
Cats in the Middle Ages were generally disapproved of, regarded as, at best, useful pests and, at worst, agents of Satan, owing to the medieval Church and its association of the cat with evil. Prior to the widespread acceptance of Christianity...
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Pets in Ancient Egypt
Pets were very important to the ancient Egyptians and considered gifts from the gods to be cared for until their death when they were expected to be returned to the divine realm from which they had come. In life, pets were well cared for...
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The Obsequies of an Egyptian Cat
The Obsequies of an Egyptian Cat, oil on canvas by John Reinhard Weguelin, 1886. Auckland Art Gallery. A priestess offers gifts of food and milk to the spirit of a cat. On an altar stands the mummy of the deceased, and the tomb is decorated...
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Biral Tapasvi (Cat Hermit)
Kalighat painting based on Bengali folklore where a cat poses as a monk on an island full of mice. The cat later proves them wrong for their initial lack of belief through saintly behavior. He then consumes the offspring of several mice after...
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Bronze Cat from Egypt
Hollow-cast bronze cat, probably a votive offering to the goddess Bastet, from Tell Basta, Egypt, c. 664-30 BCE.
National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh.
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Norse Pets in the Viking Age
Pets were as important to the Norse of the Viking Age (c. 790-1100 CE) as they were to any other culture, past or present. The Vikings kept dogs and cats as pets and both feature in Norse religious iconography and literature. The Norse also...
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Herodotus on Cats in Egypt
The Greek historian Herodotus provides an accurate description of the devotion of the ancient Egyptians to cats in Book II of his Histories, but this passage is often cited out of context. Chapters II.66-67 are frequently anthologized without...
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Ancient Egyptian Ink Drawing of a Cat & Mouse
Ink drawing of a cat and mouse on limestone. The cat is dressed as a priest and presents offerings to a mouse in what was probably a satire or an illustration of a story. From the region of Thebes, Egypt, 19th-20th Dynasty, c. 1295-1075 BCE...
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Egyptian Cat
Bronze figure of an Egyptian cat playing with one of her kittens and feeding another, Saite 26th Dynasty period (664-525 BCE). The goddess Bastet, who had a cat’s head, was one of the many gods in the polytheistic Egyptian religion and had...