Egyptian Cat Myths
Curious Cat-Related Myths Originating in Ancient Egypt
According to Desmond Morris’ book Catlore, it is believed that widespread domestication of the cat took place about 4,000 years ago in Egypt. Cats protected Egyptian crops and marketplaces from rats and mice, and so they were greatly valued.
The cat’s practical role in human life took on another dimension, however, when the Egyptian goddess Bast reached the height of her popularity. Katherine Briggs discusses this in her book Nine Lives: The Folklore of Cats. She explains that Bast, who became popular in the fourth century BC, was depicted as having the body of a cat, and it was believed that she helped women to have happy relationships and give birth to healthy children. Bast was named for Bubastis, the onetime capital of Egypt, and in Dr. David Sands’ book Cats, he explains that her name was sometimes pronounced “Pasht.” It is believed that the name Pasht is the origin for the modern word “puss,” as in “pussycat.”
Bast worshipers soon established cat-worshiping cults all over Egypt. Cats were not only fed and pampered, but treated with religious reverence. Katherine Briggs states that pet cats were treated to milk, bread, and Nile fish, and in death they were often mummified and entombed. Cats were also protected by Egyptian law, and the Egyptians sometimes had their devotion for cats used against them. Morris explains that two and a half thousand years ago the Persians developed the tactic of “feline armor.” This meant that whenever the Persians and Egyptians fought, the Persians carried live cats into battle, and used them as shields. They knew the Egyptians would be unable to strike at them for fear of killing the cats, because even on the battlefield, an Egyptian who killed a cat would be put to death by his fellow soldiers.
However, holy men would occasionally kill one or more cats in the name of Bast, which was considered a necessary form of sacrifice. It was also acceptable to use a cat’s body parts to make medicinal remedies. According to Briggs, the Egyptians believed that Bast, who was also a healer, had bestowed the cat with magical healing properties, and feline blood or entrails were often used to treat injury and disease.
It is believed that Bast was probably not the only cause of Egyptian cat worship. Sands explains that the Egyptians were also influenced by the cat’s distinctive eyes. This was because Egyptians worshipped the sun, and they believed that cats could retain the sun's power within their eyes. They believed this because of a retina adaptation called ‘tapetum,’ which is the phenomenon that causes cats’ eyes to appear to glow in the dark; anyone who has seen a cat has probably noted this phenomenon, wherein a cat’s eyes reflect a somewhat green circle of light.
Perhaps these unusual glowing eyes helped to inspire other cultures to invent their own myths about cats. After all, Egyptians were not the only ancient peoples to harbor beliefs about the feline species. There are also dozens of other countries and religions that have adopted their own cat-myths over the years, and all of these myths are fascinating in their own ways.
References:
Briggs, Katherine M. Nine Lives: The Folklore of Cats. New York: Pantheon, 1980.
Morris, Desmond. Catlore. New York: Crown Publishers, 1987.
Sands, David. Cats. New York: Octopus Publishing, 2005.
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