THE IMPORTANCE OF CATS IN ANCIENT EGYPT
In ancient Egypt cats were called Mau, Miu or Mii, meaning "one who meows."
Cats were treated as gods, and were protected by law. They were revered as a manifestation of the goddess Bastet. The punishment for harming or killing a cat was harsh;
"Whoever kills a cat in Egypt is condemned to death, whether he committed this crime deliberately or not"
There were also laws forbidding the exportation of cats. However, Phoenician traders often smuggled them out and sold them to the Mediterranean countries. Cats were so important that pharaohs sent their Armies to recapture cats from foreign lands!
The importance of cats is epitomized in the abundance of decorated statuettes found in the excavated tombs. Statuettes were seen as religious symbols with great history and importance by the Egyptians. These statues were often adorned with golden jewelry and earrings. They are shown standing with their tails wrapped around their bodies to the right. Cats were mummified after death, and mice, rats, and saucers of milk were placed in their tombs. Cat cemeteries line the Nile River and cat mummies can be found in the tombs of Egyptians. The most important cat tomb cities besides Bubastis were Giza, Abydos, and Dendereh.
The process of feline mummification had 6 steps:
1- Remove internal organs.
2- Stuff body with sand or other packing material.
3- Placed in sitting position.
4- Wrapped tightly.
5- Faces painted on wrappings with black ink.
6- Natural dehydration (No chemicals used)
When a cat died, the occupants of the house (where the cat died from natural causes), would go into a deep mourning and shave their eyebrows.
In ancient Egypt cats were called Mau, Miu or Mii, meaning "one who meows."
Cats were treated as gods, and were protected by law. They were revered as a manifestation of the goddess Bastet. The punishment for harming or killing a cat was harsh;
"Whoever kills a cat in Egypt is condemned to death, whether he committed this crime deliberately or not"
There were also laws forbidding the exportation of cats. However, Phoenician traders often smuggled them out and sold them to the Mediterranean countries. Cats were so important that pharaohs sent their Armies to recapture cats from foreign lands!
The importance of cats is epitomized in the abundance of decorated statuettes found in the excavated tombs. Statuettes were seen as religious symbols with great history and importance by the Egyptians. These statues were often adorned with golden jewelry and earrings. They are shown standing with their tails wrapped around their bodies to the right. Cats were mummified after death, and mice, rats, and saucers of milk were placed in their tombs. Cat cemeteries line the Nile River and cat mummies can be found in the tombs of Egyptians. The most important cat tomb cities besides Bubastis were Giza, Abydos, and Dendereh.
The process of feline mummification had 6 steps:
1- Remove internal organs.
2- Stuff body with sand or other packing material.
3- Placed in sitting position.
4- Wrapped tightly.
5- Faces painted on wrappings with black ink.
6- Natural dehydration (No chemicals used)
When a cat died, the occupants of the house (where the cat died from natural causes), would go into a deep mourning and shave their eyebrows.
Btw, do you know by any chance what the god Anubis may be in reality? I was just looking for some info on him, but didn't find anything that would interest me. What I mean is Anubis, the egyptian dog-god, usually represented in a mummifying proccess etc. Do you know who he is and why is he portrayed as a dog?
ReplyDeleteI actualy know a lot about him cause it seem that Lika, my paternal part have being formed by tribe Japodi (ja pojden - i go) have been sent from Likopolis by Anubis's mother Wepwawet or Upuaut (Uput-instruction) to go somewhere (it doesn't say where in Egyptian scripts) but it does commemorated date of arrival -17. february in Sothis calendar. My family name if Wolf and entire tribe was and remained known as wolves to this day.
DeleteNow ,his mother as all else have been lied about, some say it is a he and sometimes it depicts twins wolves. I know it is a she (regardless of attached penis) because of her name. Every name that ends with T in Egypt is female, T is a boob but they say it's a loaf of bread. Male name extensions have a mace standing upward in their name on hyerogliphs, also, always look at real hyerogliph if you wanna know who s/he was, it tells volumes.
Ah yes, also there was a play on white-grey-black wolf, black Anubis is last and best known big deity.
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