Ancient Egyptians believed in numerous superstitions and beliefs about cats. Cats were considered magical creatures that provided people with innumerable benefits.
Not surprisingly, the ancient Egyptians had a cat goddess.
1. Bastet, Goddess of Cats
According to the Ancient Egyptian religion, goddess Bastet was able to transform into a cat. She was the only deity in their large pantheon of deities who was able to take on this form. Therefore, all cats were physical representations of the goddess on Earth.
Bastet was the goddess of fertility, childbirth, and the keeper of secrets.
2. Best of Luck
Europeans made the mistake of murdering cats in the name of their religion. Christian practitioners labelled cats as of the devil and evil. Then they suffered plagues due to the infestation of rats and mice.
In Ancient Egypt, however, people believed cat brought good luck to those who cared for them and housed them.
Not only did their kitties keep evil spirits and disease at bay, they also kept the home and granaries free of mice and other rodents.
According to the Penguin Dictionary of Symbols (Chevalier, 1996):
“Painters and sculptors often depict her [Bastet as cat], knife in paw, decapitating the serpent Apophis, the ‘Dragon of Darkness’ and personification of the enemies of the Sun who try to sink his sacred boat on its voyage through the Underworld.”
3. Bedazzled
So important were pet cats, or more like patrons of the home, that ancient Egyptian families dressed their cats in jewels. The wealthiest cats were decked out in bling, while the poorer, working classes would spend what they could to beautiful the family’s protector.
4. Best Food Ever
Jeweled felines were also fed the best food a family could provide. Sometimes, as still happens today, the cats ate better than their human families.
5. Mummified
When the family cat passed away, it would get mummified.
In Gods of the Egyptians (Budge, 1969):
“All cats that die are carried to certain sacred houses, where being first embalmed, they are buried in the city of Bubastis.”
6. Eyebrows Shaved
Cat owners shaved off their eyebrows when a family cat died.
They would mourn the loss of their cat for as long as it took their eyebrows to grow back.
7. No Killing
Killing a cat was a death sentence, even if it happened by accident.
In The Woman’s Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets (Walker, 1983), we read:
“Diodorus, a first-century B.C. Greek historian, told of a foolish Roman who killed a cat in Egypt and was slain in his own house by an infuriated mob.”
Still Magical Today
For many people across the world, cats are still magical beings who occasionally decide to grace us with their presence. We continue to adore them and provide them with an endless array of toys and baubles. We love them and, sometimes, they love us back.
Sources:
Budge, Sir E. A. Wallis. Gods of the Egyptians 2, 364. Dover Publications, 1969.
Chevalier, Jean, and Alain Gheerbrant. In A Dictionary of Symbols, 163. Penguin, 1996.
Walker, Barbara G. In The Woman’s Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets, 148. San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1994.
