Cats In Ancient Egypt

The cat had a special place in the culture of ancient Egypt. They were highly valued, not least for the practical reason that mice and rats could destroy a town's food supply. Cats were often given golden jewelry and allowed to eat at the human table. Killing a cat was a capital offence and when a cat died the household would go into mourning.

The reverence of the ancient Egyptians for cats went as far as the gods. Ancient Egypt had many gods and at least one of these, Bast, was a cat god. Bast was usually pictured as a woman with a cat's head.

Bast

Worship of Bast - also known as Bastet or Thet - began almost three thousand years ago during the 2nd dynasty of ancient Egypt. She was originally a protective warrior goddess and was known as the defender of the pharoah and all Egypt. For this reason she was represented by a fierce lioness or a wild desert cat.

Over time the warrior aspect was toned down. Bast became more associated with perfumes and ointments. In this gentler form she came to be represented from around 1000 BC by the domestic cat. She was also often shown with a number of kittens and in this form was something of a fertility goddess. It is also said that some women looked upon the cat as the ultimate image of beauty and used make-up to give themselves a more feline look.

Because cats were associated with Bast and hence sacred, on death they were honoured with mummification. This process was thought to allow the cat's spirit to rejoin its body in the afterlife. Tombs have been discovered containing many thousands of mummified cats, in particular the tomb at the temple of Bast herself which was discovered in 1888.

Worship of cats continued until 390 AD when Bast worship was officially banned.

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