Egypt's original
use of cats was to keep the royal granaries and such of Egypt vermin free. The
cat's job itself was not so simple; the vermin bred quite rapidly and ate like
kings in the mountains of grain. The Pharaoh realized that he needed all the
cats he could get, and being a king-god himself he made the cats demigods. All
cats were considered property of the Pharaohs, because a human can't own a
demigod, but can feed, and shelter one. As a result of all cats being not only
demigods also Pharaoh property, it was a felony to kill or injure one, even by
accident, the consequence sometimes resulting in death. If a house caught on
fire the cats were the first to be rescued, then the humans.
The ancient Egyptian love for cats is incomparable to that of any other civilization. They were held as greatly needed by city workers, beyond reproach and dearly loved family members. Their deaths were as upsetting as that of a human, if not more, and their all seeing eyes were amulets for those in need of protection. Today cats are no longer demigods or city workers, but in many cases they are still dearly loved family members.
[ HOME ] [ SPHINX ] [ PYRAMIDS ] [ MUMMIES ] [ HIEROGLYPHICS ] [ ANIMALS ] [ ARTIFACTS ]