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#1
10-Oct-2005, 01:44 PM
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Cat history from 3500 BC to today
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Cat history: Your special cat has only been domesticated for about 5,000 years, a short amount of time relatively speaking. (For one comparison, our canine companions have been domesticated for about 10,000 to 15,000 years.) How did cats and humans meet up? When did cats come to America? Read on for a brief, informative history of the domestic cat! ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Coming In From The Wilds, Cats and Humans Meet Domestic cat history begins when cats and humans first met up, so to speak, in about 3,000 BC in Egypt (the exact date, obviously, is unknown, and some researchers feel it may have been even earlier, about 3,500 BC). Whatever the exact time, the Egyptians had begun to store large amounts of grain, and with the grain storages came an infestation of mice, rats, and other vermin. Small, wild cats from neighboring Africa (which we now believe to be the African Wild Cat, slightly larger than most modern cats and tabby in color) were attracted to Egypt because of the plentiful, easy hunting. The Egyptians, in turn, were attracted to the small cats for keeping vermin out of their grain. The cats stayed, the Egyptians were happy about it, and domestic cat history had begun. Cats became treasured in Egypt not just for their useful hunting skills, but as pets. The cats became so loved, in fact, that somewhere around 1,500 BC the Egyptians even worshipped cats, and the punishment for killing one - accidentally or otherwise - included the death penalty. Apparently, at least in some cases, the deceased cat would even be inspected by a priest to make sure it died of natural causes. The loss of a cat in an Egyptian home was cause for public mourning, and the bereaved would shave their eyebrows as a sign of their grief. Often, the cat was mummified like any other member of the family, and buried with mice, rats, and saucers of food. Oddly enough, approximately 1,000 years after this time, the Egyptian's still seemed to revere cats but treated many of them very differently. Traders and Travelers Even though there were laws forbidding letting cats leave the country, cat history took a new twist when traders and other travelers began taking (or should we say sneaking) the cat from Egypt to the rest of the world. Somewhere around 1,000 BC cats were taken to Europe and the Middle East, and it then spread throughout Asia. Everywhere cats went the evidence seems to suggest it was first valued for its willingness to keep vermin out of food storages and, in Asia, out of silkworm cocoons. Increasingly, the cat was also treasured for its companionship. The Dark Middle Ages During the Middle Ages cat history took a darker turn. During the this time superstitions which associated the cat with witchcraft, evil, and the devil flourished, and countless numbers of cats were tortured and killed. The humans during this time period who showed affection or attention to cats often suffered the same fate. By this time cats had been relied upon for years as a way to keep the rodent population in check, and the widespread killing of cats not only allowed vermin to flourish, but also the deadly human diseases they often carried. Slowly, in some parts of the world, people began to once again recognize the cat's value in keeping rat and mice populations under control, and they began to put aside their fears of the cat as a friend of the devil and allowed the feline population to build back up. While this was a nice start, it was still some time before the association between the cat and evil was largely forgotten. Into A New World Interestingly, while the North American continent had a variety of wild cats, there is no history of domesticated cats here until they were imported. During the 1600 and 1700's domestic cats were brought to America by traders, explorers and colonists. Their inclusion on long and difficult sea voyages to make it to America was probably, once again, due to the cat's hunting ability and its usefulness in helping prevent rodents from having free run of the ships, as well as to control the rodent populations in the new settlements. Once in America the cat thrived, not only as a useful tool but as a friend and companion, and by the 1800's the cat was not only a popular pet in America but throughout the entire world. 
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#2
10-Oct-2005, 04:39 PM
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People interested in the history of felines can also refer to the website our cats
These are excepts from the book " our cats" by harrison weir and was written in 1889. Harrison weir was the organizer of the first cat show in crystal palace, london, in 1871. It says a lot about certain breeds we can find today and their origins back inthe 1800s.
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