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history of cats
The story of cat dated back to ages. However, the domestication of cats is generally attributed to the Egyptians who worshipped them. The pharaonic Egypt considered the cat as a sacred animal, a representative of Bastet, goddess of fecundity and harvests. To kill a cat was a crime often punished by death and when fire broke out, the inhabitants saved the cat…… There are many cat mummies for after death, the animal was embalmed, wrapped with bandages and buried in a cat cemetery.
The arrival of domestic cats in France apparently occured through phoenician merchants who illegally exported him. So, cats spread little by little in the countries of the Mediterranean region then, through Europe.
People quickly appreciated the cat, quite easy to domesticate and famous rodent hunter, thus securing crops and protecting from plague.
Several centuries before Christ, Asia has also greeted the cat as a lucky charm and good animal. Now, he remains associated with fortune and related to happiness.
At the beginning, the nobility and the priests owned cats, then, it was all the society. In China, figurines representing a cat were supposed to keep off evil. In Japan, the cat is also worshipped, the temple of Go-To-Ku-Ji is devoted to the cat.. His talismanic powers are still present, especially with the famous Maneki-neko, a figurine of a white cat with a paw up assuring protection and prosperity.
Then, it was highway to hell in the Middle Ages, a period of cruelness and tortures. The cat was ruthlessly persecuted in the medieval Europe. He was rejected and considered as “demonic” by the Christian church that regards him as a devilish creature. And this despite his presence in many monasteries and convents to hunt rondents and the ally role he plays among the peasants who found him very useful…
Suspicion set in towards the animals symbolizing the Egyptian and Greco-Roman divinities ( he-goat, owl and of course cat…..). The revival of heathen cults and its association with cats changed the way the cat was considered and soon made him a hellish and devilish creature.
The poor animal crystallized all the human fears and was associated with witches. Many cats were sacrified ( burnt, walled in…), especially the poor black cats, symbol of evil. This little cat was the victim of superstitions and absurd and incongruous convictions.
A late rehabilitation ….
It is only in the 17th century that the cat got back to his place as a pet and a rodent hunter, friend of people.
He became again the friend of peasants, the keeper of books in monasteries and libraries, of ropes, sails and freight in the ships……
However, much time had to go by before suspicion fades as regards cats. Persecutions stopped but superstitions remained. Little by little mentalities changed in particular during the modern times and the evolution as regards hygiene and health ( epidemics linked to rodents made people aware of the role played by the cat ). With the Enlightenment, the cat has his place in many books and paintings. Artists, writers, musicians, painters paid homage to him and contributed to show the cat as a pet while keeping his magic…
Companion of artists and people in power ( Montaigne, Richelieu, Louis XV…..), he regained the respect of human beings.
Nowadays, the cat has a major role as a full pet. Companion of city dwellers and friend of nature lovers, he lives in many houses, a quiet and discreet presence but always mysterious….
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