Cats were in ancient Egypt also, but they were not just house pets like today. Originally, cats were completely wild. After a long time, people and cats learned to live along side each other. Soon during that time people started to worship the cats like other animals that they worshiped. There are many reasons that the cat is worshiped by Egyptians, but two reasons are because of their gracefulness and their beauty. They also thought that it was amazing by how they could easily catch and kill snakes. Some cats were even "lucky" enough to be mummified and placed in tombs with pharoahs. two cat gods were Mafdet, and Bast.The cult of Bast was officially banned by imperial decree in 390AD.
Egypt has since experienced a decline in the respect once held for
cats; they are still kept as pets and tolerated elsewhere because they
catch pests, the cat has not yet lost all religious significance in
modern Egypt. |
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