It is believed that Cats have lived with people for around 10,000 to 12,000 years, and according to recent research published in the journal, Science (www.smithsonianmag.com), it is thought that cats, more or less, self domesticated, inviting themselves right into the life and way of humans.  It is thought that when people settled the land in the fertile crescent area and began an agricultural lifestyle, abandoning their nomadic one, that the unique and special relationship between cats and humans began (www.alleycat.org).  The middle eastern wildcats (felix silvestris lybica), taking advantage of the new and abundant rodent food source created by the storage of grains and such, decided to stick around, and the communities were happy to have them. 

 

In fact in ancient Egypt, cats were revered, worshiped, and loved.  When a cat died, the family would shave their eyebrows in grief and mourning.  Cats were mummified and buried, sometimes even dressed in golden jewelry to indicate their owners status, and even the Egyptian goddess, Bastet (also called Bast), who was first worshipped as a fierce lioness warrior goddess, was later changed to a cat and her ferocious nature was softened after the domestication of the cat around 1500 BCE (www.Britannica.com).  In ancient Egypt, the killing of a cat, whether intentional or not, very often carried with it a death sentence for the offender.

 

Other civilizations also held a reverence for cats throughout history, including Rome, Japan, and others in the Far East.  Cats were even considered good luck for sailors, bringing good fortune and preventing bad weather. It is said that the link between cats and sailors goes back as far as their domestication in Ancient Egypt through the Viking Golden Age, not only for their mousing skills and keeping vermin in check on boats but also because of their natural reaction to barometric pressure changes (www.wearethemighty.com). It is believed that it was through the sailors recruiting of cats for the various jobs on board as well as good luck in sailing, that the domesticated cat of the fertile crescent area and Egypt found its way to other parts of the world.

 

Unfortunately, during the middle ages in Europe cats sadly came to be demonized due to religious beliefs, especially the black cat. Because people in the middle ages began to associate cats with Witches and the Devil, many were killed along with Witches to try and ward off evil, which ironically is an action that is believed by scholars to have facilitated the spread of the plague which is carried by rats (www.smithsonianmag.com).  So in trying to kill all the cats that they thought to be evil with the Witches, the rat population exploded, in turn spreading the plague faster than it may otherwise have spread with cats to keep things in check. 

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Thankfully, we people have come a long way and things are much different for cats now than they were back in the middle ages.  While some parts of the world still need some education as to what these beautiful feline creatures have to offer us in the way of protection and companionship, the cat has become much more of a family member in so many homes throughout the world, and we, at The Kurious Kat, are Very Happy about this!