The oddly solitary nature of cats has intrigued humans since ancient times. The inherent mysteriousness and aloofness of the cat and other felines have made them ideal for representing divinities, while their propensity to be tamed, and ability to hunt harmful vermin, have helped them form intimate relationships with humans, particularly in agrarian societies. The African wildcat is believed to be the common ancestor of the majority of modern domestic cats. The two species of smaller felines most common in ancient Egypt were the jungle cat (Felis chaus) and the African wildcat (Felis silvestris lybica), which are still present in small numbers today. The Egyptians did not distinguish between wild and domesticated felines as such; all types of cats, including lion, cheetah, and caracal, were known by an onomatopoeic name: miu, translated as ‘he or she who mews’.
Earliest evidence
The first physical evidence for potentially domesticated cats in Egypt is found in a tomb at Mostagedda, in Upper Egypt, dating to the Badarian period (c.4400-4000 BC), while at Predynastic Abydos (c.5300-3000 BC) the skeletons of 17 small domestic cats were found, together with a row of small milk pots for feeding them. The oldest images of cats in ancient Egypt appear as hieroglyphs at Lisht. A block relief dating to the later Old Kingdom (found within the Middle Kingdom pyramid complex of Amenemhat I) names a city called Miuu, written as three seated cats that reads ‘Lord of Cats’ Town’. However, it is not known if there was actually a ‘town of cats’, or if the cat signs are there to spell out the name of the location phonetically.
Depictions of cats
There are only a few examples of representations of cats dating before the Middle Kingdom, including a wildcat depicted in a wildlife scene from the Old Kingdom temple of Nyuserra at Abu Gurob (which is now destroyed) and the image of what appears to be a cat and a mongoose in the Giza tomb of Meryranefer (Qar) from the reign of Pepy I.
