Domestication of cats

The process of domestication began in Egypt 6000 years ago.

The evidence of peaceful coexistence of cats and humans can be found in the ancient Egypt. The pictures of cats can be seen on paintings made in the third millennium BC. The earliest evidence of domestication dates back to 2600 BC. Since 1600 BC cats had often been depicted in sculptures, paintings and hieroglyphs. Thus we can guess that cats were widely spread in Egypt. The Egyptians loved and tamed various animals but cats played an extraordinary role in the religious culture of Egypt and their everyday life. But the reason for domestication didn't lie in their ability to catch rodents, which devastated Egyptian granary. Cat was the object of worship, religious symbol and even a deity.

In ancient Egypt it was believed that there was a link between the sun and lion's life force. The various deities were associated with cats. According to Herodotus, when a cat died, its owners shaved off their eyebrows as a sign of mourning and carried the animal to embalm and bury the body. Religious role of cats did not except attachment to the man who fed it and kept in his house as beloved household pet.