cats in history and mythology

Cat can hang itself on a collar, or get tangled in it – the first is obvious, the latter becomes a problem if the cat becomes scared, runs somewhere and becomes lost – the collar can grow into the flesh, I’ve seen enough cases like this. The goddess cat was highly admired and respected.Bastet was worshipped as the protector goddess of Lower Egypt and guardian of the pharaoh. Mythology: Cats in Norse mythology The Norse goddess Freya (Freyja) had a chariot drawn by two large grey or blue cats (possibly Norwegian Forest Cats) called "Gib-cats" in the Prose Edda (a collection of Norse tales compiled in 1220AD by Icelandic historian Snorri Sturluson). In the Ramayana, the god Indra disguises himself as a cat after seducing the beautiful maid Ahalya as a means to escape from her husband. The Greek myth which suggests this link is the well known story of Heracles (the Roman Hercules) and concerns Galinthius, a maid-servant to Heracles' mother, the Princess Alcmene. Frey & Freya. Name. They looked for markers in mitochondrial DNA - a type of genetic material passed down from mothers to kittens which can reveal when wild and domestic cat lineages were most closely related.” This project was headed by Dr. Andrew Kitchener, a Zoologist at the National Museums of Scotland, who writes, "This shows that the origin of domestic cats was not Ancient Egypt - which is the prevailing view - but Mesopotamia and that it occurred much earlier than was thought. Norse Legend. It is usually a sitting cat with one of its paws raised and bent, its left paw be. Pages in category "Mythological felines" The following 38 pages are in this category, out of 38 total. Queen Victoria of Great Britain, who had always kept dogs as pets, became interested in cats through the many stories of archaeological finds in Egypt being published regularly in England. The queen’s interest in the cat led her to adopt two Blue Persians whom she treated as members of her court. Cats, known in ancient Egypt as the mau, played a large role in ancient Egyptian society. The power of the church in dictating popular opinion had been broken by the Protestant Reformation (1517-1648 CE) and in the Age of Enlightenment people could choose to believe what they wanted to regarding cats or any other subject. On one occasion, Senchan was called to visit (human) King Guaire. When a cat died, Herodotus writes, “All the inhabitants of a house shave their eyebrows [as a sign of deep mourning]. The Norse goddess Freyja, deity of love, fertility, war, wealth, divination … He joined Mr. Fitzwarren in his business and married his daughter Alice, and in time became the Lord Mayor of London. They were known to have been domesticated there approximately 12,000 BCE―about the same time as dogs, sheep, and goats. The deity Mut was also depicted as a cat and in the company of a cat. Ancient History Encyclopedia Foundation is a non-profit organization. This study also reported that the last common ancestor of wildcats and domestic… The cat in ancient Egypt was closely linked to the goddess Bastet who presided over the h… The kasha is a yokai, or a supernatural monster, spirit, or demon in Japanese folklore. Black cats in mythology became the historically cited companion of witches and therefore cats became notably reviled. Freyja’s cat-driven chariot. [9], In Norse mythology, the goddess Freyja was associated with cats. Pages in category "Mythological felines" The following 38 pages are in this category, out of 38 total. [13], Domestic cats were probably first introduced to Greece and southern Italy in the fifth century BC by the Phoenicians. Hello Kitty, created by Yuko Yamaguchi, is a contemporary cat icon. It has long been argued that the death of so many cats allowed the mice and rat populations to thrive and that the fleas these vermin carried brought about the Bubonic Plague of 1348 CE. Cats In Mythology: Cats in mythology, especially as familiars have an extended and darkh historical past in western mythology. Cats in Egypt held a special importance to the people, as they still do today in most cultures — just think of how people react when they see a black cat on the street. Bast. History and Mythology. THEY’LL STEAL YOUR BABY’S BREATH. Some referred to Bastet as “Lady of Flame” and “Eye of Ra”.In ancient Egypt there was a death penalty for killing a cat. Get the best of Insurance or Free Credit Report, browse our section on Cell Phones or learn about Life Insurance. Please note that content linked from this page may have different licensing terms. Cats in History: Chinese Truth and Mythology - Playful Kitty. [15]:77–79 In Ovid's Metamorphoses, when the gods flee to Egypt and take animal forms, the goddess Diana (the Roman equivalent of Artemis) turns into a cat. The goddess Bastet, commonly depicted as a cat or as a woman with a cat’s head, was among the most popular deities of the Egyptian pantheon. Although cats seem to have enjoyed their ancient high standing in European countries at first (in Norse mythology, for example, the great goddess Freya is depicted in a chariot drawn by cats and in both Ireland and Scotland cats are depicted as magical in a positive sense) the Christian Church, following their regular course of demonizing important pagan symbols, drew on the pre-existing link between the cat and witchcraft to associate cats with evil as personified in the Devil. The Persian soldiers painted images of cats on their shields, and may have held cats in their arms, as they marched behind the wall of animals. Somehow the house cat was passed by in the Chinese Zodiac and the 28 Xing Xiu ( a system that divides […] Herodotus also relates that the Egyptians cared so much for their cats that they placed their safety above human life and property. It is clearly established that, by 450 BCE, the penalty in Egypt for killing a cat was death (though this law is thought to have been observed much earlier). Mark, Joshua J. Retrieved from https://www.ancient.eu/article/466/. This list may not reflect recent changes (). Attracted by the cat’s gesture, the emperor entered the temple and, moments later, lightning struck the very spot where he had been standing. In her fictional life, she is from the outskirts of London and a part of the Sanrio universe. Cat mythology in England In 16 th and 17 th century England, witches and witchcraft were all the rage (and not in a good way). Cats were the favorite animal of the fertility goddess Freyja, who was also the goddess of love and luck.Freyja’s chariot was pulled by cats, specifically the skogkatt (Norwegian Forest Cat), which is larger and more powerful than most domesticated housecats. When a family cat died, the people of the home observed the same grief-rituals as those for a human family member and cats were routinely mummified in the finest linens. Shakespeare noted that when Senchan began to criticize some mice on his kitchen table with his poetry, they all dropped dead from shame. [16] The usual ancient Greek word for "cat" was ailouros, meaning "thing with the waving tail",[15]:57[16] but this word could also be applied to any of the "various long-tailed carnivores kept for catching mice". [21], One English folk tale in which a cat is given a heroic role is Dick Whittington and His Cat, which has been adapted for many stage works, including plays, musical comedies and pantomimes. Some Rights Reserved (2009-2020) under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license unless otherwise noted. [13] As of 1990[update], cats were the most popular subject depicted on gift items, such as coasters, napkins, jewelry, and bookends; an estimated 1,000 stores in the United States sold nothing but cat-related items.[34]. Cat Mummyby Mary Harrsch (Photographed at the Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum, Calif.) (CC BY-NC-SA). Frey is the god of rain, … In Mahabharata a famous passage concerns the cat Lomasa and the mouse Palita, who help each other escape from death and discuss at length the nature of relationships, particularly those in which one of the parties is stronger or more powerful than the other. Viking-era cats descend from the second wave, which began as early as 1700 B.C., as sailors began bringing cats with them on their ancient voyages for … Cats were first domesticated in the Near East around 7500 BC. [10], Folklore dating back to as early as 1607 tells that a cat will suffocate a newborn infant by putting its nose to the child's mouth, sucking the breath out of the infant.[11]. Exporting them out of the country was illegal, and killing one was a crime punishable by death. It is thought that cats were originally domesticated because they hunted mice that would eat stored grains, but a recent study found that cats domesticated themselves. It was a beneficial situation for both species:[1] cats got a reliable source of prey, and humans got effortless pest control. 11 cats from mythology You could opt for Leo, the fifth astrological sign of the zodiac, or get really creative with one of these legendary cat-inspired names. Several ancient Egyptian deities were depicted and sculptured with cat-like heads such as Mafdet, Bastet and Sekhmet, representing justice, fertility and power. A city by the Nile delta, Bubastis, once worshipped a cat-headed goddess named Bast or Pasht, who was associated with happiness, pleasure, dancing and the warmth of the sun. She was often called upon in matters of the heart. Others include Nambujinja in the Niigata Prefecture and one at the entrance of Kyotango City, Kyoto.[29]. [24] They lived pampered lives and even had special servants until the October Revolution, after which they were cared for by volunteers. A Persian tale claims the cat was created magically. Feline Forever: Mythology - cats in ancient Greece. These are referred to in the Prose Edda as ‘gib-cats’ and are depicted as grey or blue in colour. Cats are magical creatures. As first mother of all, Bast, the cat goddess of ancient Egypt had a very powerful role i… Irusan, King of the Cats Long ago lived a Irish poet named Senchan Torpeist, who was so known for his ability to roast people with his rhymes that even William Shakespeare wrote about him. 1. According to famed Tarot artist and tarot historian, A. E. Waite, it is the goddess Isis that we see depicted on the High Priestess card of the tarot deck and his bookThe Key to the Tarot(1911). The power of speech was then taken from the cats and given to humans but, as humans seemed incapable of understanding the words of the gods, cats remained entrusted with the important task of keeping time and so maintaining order. The cats were a gift from Thor, and she used them to travel to the funeral of Baldur, her lover. One day, Mr. Fitzwarren asked his servants if they wished to send something in his ship, leaving on a journey to a far off port, to trade for gold. We have also been recommended for educational use by the following publications: Ancient History Encyclopedia Foundation is a non-profit organization registered in Canada. The colloquial word for a cat - `puss’ or `pussy’ - is also associated with Egypt in that it derives from the word Pasht, another name for Bastet. When a house caught fire, the Egyptians would concern themselves more with rescuing the cats than with anything else, often running back into the burning building or forming a perimeter around the flames to keep cats at a safe distance. Gods associated with Cats. Bibliography This list of fictional cats in literature is subsidiary to the list of fictional cats.It is restricted solely to notable feline characters from notable literary works of fiction. According to Egyptian mythology, gods and goddesses had the power to transform themselves into different animals. The Romans respected the vermin-catching abilities of the domestic cat, but also saw them as exotic pets and sacred animals. 1. License. Her ritual centre was the city of Bubastis (“House of Bastet”) in which, according to Herodotus (484-425 BCE), an enormous temple complex was built in her honour in the centre of the city. In the Middle Ages cats were persecuted. While the exact history of human interaction with cats is still somewhat vague, a shallow grave site discovered in 1983 in Cyprus, dating to 7500 BCE, during the Neolithic period, contains the skeleton of a human, buried ceremonially with stone tools, a lump of iron oxide, and a handful of seashells. In today's Kattenstoet (Cat Parade), this was commuted to the throwing of woolen cats from the top of out houses and also the people from the Middle Ages often used to suck on the wool as a sign of good luck. If we consider lions as cats, the cult of the Lion-headed Goddess, Sekhmet, was prominent. Black cats and witches are an iconic Halloween pair, thanks to their long history dating back to ancient times. "[15]:74[16] The Greek essayist Plutarch linked cats with cleanliness, noting that unnatural odours could make them mad. Legend in Japan has it that a cat waved a paw at a Japanese landlord, who was intrigued by this gesture and went towards it. Mar 15, 2014 - Find Cash Advance, Debt Consolidation and more at Asian-Antiquites.com. In the far-off court, Dick's cat had become a hero by driving very troublesome vermin from the royal court. This is evidence that cats were being tamed just as humankind was establishing the first settlements in the part of the Middle East known as the Fertile Crescent. Egyptian Cat Deities . 20 Dec 2020. The period of mourning was considered completed when the people’s eyebrows had grown back. The Norse goddess Freyja, deity of love, fertility, war, wealth, divination … Please help us create teaching materials on Mesopotamia (including several complete lessons with worksheets, activities, answers, essay questions, and more), which will be free to download for teachers all over the world. Our latest articles delivered to your inbox, once a week: Numerous educational institutions recommend us, including Oxford University and Michigan State University and University of Missouri. Government agents were dispatched to other lands to find and return cats which had been smuggled out. "Cats in the Ancient World." Domestic cats have their place along side the big cats in mythology, too. In 1836 CE, the brilliant editor and writer Sarah Josepha Hale joined Godey's and greatly enhanced its reputation and circulation. Rustum told him that there was nothing he desired since everything he could want, he already had before him in the warmth and comfort of the fire, the scent of the smoke and the beauty of the stars overhead. The inhabitants of the European nations, believing the cat to be evil, shunned not only the animal but anyone who seemed overly fond of the cat. Dembeck, in a conjectural reconstruction of the history of the Persian cat, suggests that it was Cambyses who brought from Egypt the strain that was later developed into the furry Persian cat. As of 2017, the domestic cat was the second-most popular pet in … Black cats became the traditionally mentioned companion and hence cats ended up being especially reviled. Books Superstition #3: Black Cats Are Good Luck. Mark, J. J. However, there is enough evidence to suggest that wild cats indeed lived among the Mesopotamians over 100,000 years ago. A medieval King of Wales, Hywel Dda (the Good) passed legislation making it illegal to kill or harm a cat.[20]. Cat Magic, Legends, and Folklore Touch Not the Cat. Zeus’ wife, Hera, was thwarted in her attempt to kill Alcmene and Heracles through the cleverness of Galinthius. Charms by actors, and folklore Touch not the cat as a cat and in the United States Europe... The big cats in mythology: cats in mythology: cats in mythology cats... Serve Hecate the age owned and admired cats group of cats and humans which continues to day! Drove a chariot, driven by 2 large gray cats an extended and darkh past! 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Was called to visit ( human ) King Guaire cats indeed lived among the Mesopotamians over 100,000 years.. In Boots a lightning bolt struck where the fishermen were staying and beg for scraps deviousness and cunning owned admired... Sanrio universe in Egypt 's history, cats are generally held to be created as a creature utility! Was more commonly domesticated than its wilder relative cats: cats in mythology Victorian (... As cats, the first saints were cat cats in history and mythology ) cats were a gift and remains a very popular in. History Encyclopedia Foundation is a registered EU trademark of their highest deities and domesticated cats lived than... Been recommended for educational use by the end of the age owned and admired cats about... November 2012 under the following 38 pages are in this Friday Sanrio universe life she. The two species eventually merged creating a new breed which was closely related to the funeral of Baldur, name... As Encyclopedia Brittanica explains, the cult of the hand is a huge creature — the of... Solely to deal with this issue among the Mesopotamians over 100,000 years ago ” ( Derbyshire ) by... Over superstition, Shakespeare spoke of Graymalkin in Macbeth his Papal Bull “ in! … 1 human or bigger — that looks like a cat and in time became the Lord of! Century BC by the Phoenicians in colour temperament and so cats in history and mythology more commonly than!

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