Sacred animal of ancient Egypt. Honoring the bull, cow, cat, mongoose, falcon
I read several versions explaining why the cat in Egypt deserved the title of a sacred animal. The Egyptians were the first to tame the cat and were able to appreciate it. The cult of the cat in this country has reached its full climax and there are many reasons for this, both religious and economic.
Causes of the cat cult in ancient Egypt
1. Scientists have suggested that the extreme fertility of the cat played a significant role in the formation of the cult. The revered goddess of motherhood and fertility, Bast (Bastet), was depicted by the ancient Egyptians as a woman with a cat's head. Sometimes in the form of a cat that entered into a fight with a snake, the supreme god of the Sun Ra appeared. Even the ability of a cat to change the pupil was considered the highest gift, the same ability was described in myths by the god Ra.
2. Cats helped the Egyptians protect their crops from rodent damage. The rat-catchers helped to avoid the plague, and their dislike for snakes was also associated with the divine principle: according to legend, God Ra descended into the dungeon every night to destroy the serpent Apep.
3. Egyptian priests have always been considered the world's best specialists in magical arts and interpretations. From their point of view, a cat living in a family contributed to the well-being of this family and performed the function of karmic unloading of the family. In a cat, the Egyptians saw the embodiment of the soul of a deceased relative, so a kitten that accidentally wandered was revered and surrounded by care and attention.
4. The Egyptians believed that cats smell and protect their home from evil spirits, it was assumed that even vampires could fall from soft cat paws.
The cat is a sacred animal
The Egyptians revered cats, fed and took care of them, after death they mummified and observed mourning, for a long time they were forbidden to be taken out of the country. Killing a cat was considered a terrible act and punishable by death. Even in a natural disaster, a cat was rescued from the house first. Once the Egyptians sacked the Greek quarter, destroying and dispersing its inhabitants, only because one of the Greeks drowned the kittens.
After the prohibition of the Bast cult, cats ceased to be an object of worship, but even now in Egypt they are trying not to offend them, obviously, the genetic memory of their ancestors makes itself felt.
Everyone must have heard at least once in their lives that in ancient Egypt, cats were revered like deities. They were respected, they were considered sacred animals, and archaeologists continue to find statues and images of cats on various valuable objects. According to the assumptions of historians, on the day when one of the cats that lived in the pharaoh's palace died, a seventy-day mourning was declared, and the pharaoh himself cut off his eyebrows as a sign of respect. Moreover, the mummies of these animals have been found more than once during excavations of ancient pyramids. It is believed that cats were the guides of the pharaohs to the realm of the dead. Many of you have probably seen mummified animals in the Egyptian Hall of the Museum of Art History. A.S. Pushkin in Moscow.
Accustomed to perceive all this as a historical fact, do we ask ourselves the question - why is this so? As a result of what and for what reasons did the Egyptians have such love and respect for cats?
In Egypt, cats appeared around 2000 BC, while these animals were domesticated about nine and a half years ago. For starters, the Egyptians valued cats for their protection from small rodents, and by hunting rats, cats gained even more respect. By destroying snakes, cats made the territory safer for living. In addition, cats admired with their softness, independence and grace. The residents are very fond of cats. For killing an animal, one could become condemned to death.
For the first time in world history, it was in Egypt that cats were endowed with sacred and divine qualities. In some images, the god Ra (the god of the sun) was a red cat, which every day absorbs Apep, personifying evil and darkness. At the same time, Bast, the goddess of love, beauty, fertility, hearth and cats, was depicted as a woman with a cat's head. It is with the goddess Bast that cats began to be mummified: Bast was personified by cats, and the honors that they received posthumously indicated why cats deserve these honors.
For the sake of cats, the Egyptians were ready to commit heroic deeds. For example, it happened that people rushed into burning houses to make sure that there was not a single cat in the room. This once again proves how respectful, reverent, loving and serious people were towards cats in ancient Egypt. These were not just domesticated animals, aesthetically pleasing and tender. They were helpers and even defenders. But is it really only this help to people, which is written above, is the main reason for such an attitude towards these animals? Did their involuntary and unconscious help to a person lead to a whole cult? Alas, we will never know the exact and complete answer.
In the ancient world, representatives of many peoples tamed cats and kept them as pets. However, the Egyptians undoubtedly admired them more than others, declaring them sacred animals.
BAST, GODDESS WITH THE CAT'S HEAD
The goddess Baet, whose name literally means "tearing", was most often depicted as a woman with a cat's head. Like Hathor, Maat or Sekhmet, Byet was the daughter of the sun.
She held an honorary position, serving as the eye of Ra, the solar god, and thus participated in the act of creation, shedding light on the earth and fighting twilight. The Egyptians often associated her with the lioness Sekhmet, the goddess of war, and both of them, being the daughters of the sun, paradoxically embodied both meekness and gays.
As a result of archaeological excavations carried out at the site of Jericho in Palestine, bones of cats dating back to the Neolithic were discovered. Skeleton of a cat dating back to the 6th millennium BC. e., was found in Cyprus.
However, scientists cannot agree on the origin of the domestic cat. Some researchers claim that it descended from a wild African cat (Felis sylvestris libyca) and was domesticated by the ancient Egyptians about two and a half thousand years BC, while others believe that its ancestor was a wild Asian cat (Felis sylvestris manul). Be that as it may, apparently, the cat was domesticated about two thousand years BC, and this happened in ancient Egypt. Before that, cats were found exclusively in the wild.
Of course, the ancient Egyptians tamed cats not only and not so much because of their beautiful appearance, but primarily because they hunted rats and mice, effectively exterminating these plague vectors, a real disaster for grain crops.
The role of the cat in daily life
Starting around the second millennium BC, wild cats, the ancestors of the domestic cat, pursued their prey, rodents, all the way to human habitation in the Nile Valley, attracted by the smell of food and the warmth of hearths. At that time, this region achieved particular prosperity, mainly due to the development of agriculture and grain granaries.
Starting from 1600 BC. e. Egyptian sailors began to take cats with them on board to protect their goods and supplies from the ubiquitous rodents, thus violating the harsh Egyptian law, according to which it was forbidden to take them out of the country on pain of death. In addition, cats were clandestinely transported by sailors to be traded under the counter like jewels wherever maritime trade exchanges developed.
That is how cats gradually settled along the entire coast of the Mediterranean Sea. But the Egyptians used cats not only for catching rodents, but also for hunting. Indeed, these small predators were indispensable helpers in hunting birds. They were kept on a leash while the hunter killed the birds with a boomerang, and then, when the prey fell to the ground, they were lowered to bring the bird to their owner.
And finally, cats were credited with the ability to protect people from fire. The ancient Greek writer Herodotus said that the Egyptians did not fight fire, arguing that if a strong fire suddenly starts, cats will run to the scene and throw themselves into the flames, giving their lives to save people caught in the fire. Everyone present at the same time mourns the cat, and the fire goes out without anyone's intervention. In a word, cats not only played the most important role in the economic life of Ancient Egypt, but were also real positive symbols, which were worshiped by the whole people.
revered animal
The ancient Egyptians believed that all animals should be treated with respect. However, cats seem to have been revered much more than others, because Egyptian law, under pain of death, forbade scolding cats, mistreating them, and even more so killing them. After all, Egyptian cats were not just everyone's favorite pets, but above all sacred creatures.
Starting from 1567 BC. e. the cat was a symbol of the sun, and the cat was a symbol of the moon, so the Egyptians revered these animals as gods. Egyptian cats, incarnations of Bait, the goddess of womanhood and fertility, or the radiant cat who ensures the return of the sun after night, occupied an enviable position both in the world of the living and in the afterlife realm of Osiris.
The goddess Bait was considered the embodiment of meekness, but she, like a real cat, could well release her claws. The Egyptians had undisguised admiration for this cat-headed goddess, who was invariably accompanied by a brood of her kittens. Every year, in honor of Baet, sacrifices were made by prisoners. Every household had at least one cat, and when a cat died, family members would shave off their eyebrows as a sign of mourning and mourn for seventy days. The inconsolable head of the family wrapped the deceased pet in a linen and took it to the embalmers, and then buried it.
Since embalming was very expensive, the head of the family had seventy days to collect the necessary amount. One of the clearest evidence of such worship on the part of the Egyptians is in the city of Beni Hasan, where archaeologists have discovered a whole cemetery of cats. Thousands of mummies of these sacred animals were buried here! Cats lived at every temple, and the position of cat keeper was very enviable; it was passed down from father to son.
Only very successful Egyptians could keep a cat at home, because caring for it was expensive. They didn't just eat mice! Indeed, these animals were so revered that they were fed first, and they got the best pieces of meat or fish. In addition, when the Egyptian sought to ingratiate himself with the goddess Bayt so that she would fulfill his request, he would take the best fish as a gift to her earthly incarnations - cats.
Perhaps not a single animal evoked such conflicting feelings in people as a cat - it was either elevated to the rank of a deity, or hated like a fiend. If someone created an album illustrating the relationship between people and cats throughout the history of civilization, we could use it to make a truly dizzying journey from prehistoric times to modern times across different eras, countries and continents.
But, of course, the apogee of worship and glory reached the cat in ancient Egypt. It was there that they were ranked among the gods and were considered the personification of the two main heavenly bodies - the Moon and the Sun.
Cat goddess Bast - a symbol of joy, love and fertility
Perhaps the most famous "cat character" in Egypt is the goddess of cats named Bast, or Bastet (the second pronunciation), many of us have seen her at least in pictures in school textbooks. Bastet patronized beauty, love and fertility. The heyday of her cult fell on the time between the Middle and New Kingdoms, the city of Bubastis became the center of worship. And the Bubasteion temple dedicated to her was erected in Saqqara, not far from Memphis, the capital of the Old Kingdom.
The sacred cats of Egypt were directly involved in the annual celebrations, it is not surprising that during this period they were specially bred, feeding them with fish caught in the Nile and bread soaked in milk. Mere mortals could bring their gifts to the tailed ones only when they were put on display. The doors of the temple, in which there were baskets with cats, were opened for everyone in the second month after the Nile flooded. It was at this time that Bubastides took place - festivities dedicated to Bast as the patroness of the harvest.
sun cat
Why do cats deserve such honor and glory? After all, Bast, no less, was considered the daughter of Ra himself - the god of the Sun, had the power to give rise to the dawn of each new day and, together with her sister Sekhmet, served as the all-seeing eye. At the heart of this worship, it turns out, lies ... a cat's hunting gift. More precisely, the ability of cats to successfully fight snakes. After all, it was the serpent Apep, according to Egyptian mythology, who was the personification of horror and darkness, and the cat, the sacred animal of Ancient Egypt, defeating him, thereby freed the Sun from the freezing cold of the night, gave him the opportunity to illuminate the world.
According to legend, the struggle of darkness and light was repeated from night to night. Light-bearing Ra sailed on a boat across the sky for 12 hours, illuminating the earth, and closer to dusk, when the tired god fell asleep, the boat crossed the border of the kingdom of the dead, so that for the next 12 hours it would be in the afterlife. At the decisive hour, on the way of the boat with the motionless Ra, Apophis rose from the twilight, but each time the serpent met the rebuff of the brave sacred cat - Atum. Addressing the souls of the dead, the tailed defender of Light promised to drive the spirits of evil into the underworld and decapitated the snake, giving the solar boat the opportunity to continue its journey.
By the way, mythical cats, the winners of darkness, are even in the illustrations of the Book of the Dead: the pictures depict a cat that is preparing to repel the terrible Apep. It also describes the battle under the sacred sycamore tree between the serpent and the god Ra, who took the form of a red cat.
The image of a mustachioed serpent fighter is also found on the cult sticks of senet. Evidence of the direct relation of the cat to the cult of the daylight is also on the stones of the New Kingdom. There is only one conclusion: the Egyptians were sure that only thanks to the vigilance and courage of cats, our world can enjoy the life-giving light of the Sun every day.
moon cat
Interestingly, at the same time, the cult of Bast was associated simultaneously with the night luminary, since it was believed that it was the Moon that was responsible for fertilization and patronized expectant mothers and children. Plutarch mentions the connection of the cat-goddess with the lunar disk in his work “On Isis and Osiris”. The Egyptians were sure that a cat is able to conceive 7 times in a lifetime and give birth to 28 kittens. And that's how many days the lunar calendar has.
It is noteworthy that the personification of the Moon, the Greek goddess Artemis, running away from the monstrous snake Python, also turned into a cat and hid from her pursuer ... in Egypt!
Sacred cats of Egypt - an object of worship
The blind veneration of cats by the Egyptians became a byword in itself. So, all members of the family in which the pet was dying had to shave off their eyebrows as a sign of grief and mourning. Another fact confirming the reverence of the inhabitants of Egypt for the tailed ones is known thanks to Ptolemy. The historian described how, in the 6th century BC, the soldiers of the ruler of Persia, Cambyses II, went to the trick, besieging the border city of Pelusium. The soldiers advancing in the first line carried cats in front of them, and their opponents had no choice but to surrender, so as not to harm the objects of their worship.
The murder of a cat was completely punishable by the death of the culprit, and even the pharaoh could not argue with this law. So, according to legend, in 47 BC, one of the Roman soldiers killed a cat in Alexandria, for which the locals staged lynching over him. Ptolemy XII Avletes, the father of the famous Cleopatra, could not defend the cat-killer.
In fact, this event, even if it is not a historical fact, has a very symbolic meaning. Indeed, at this time, Caesar with his army was already approaching the banks of the Nile, and very soon, as a result of a victorious war, he subordinated Egypt to the power of Rome. As one of the many provinces of the empire, the ancient state lost its power, and with it the Egyptian deities, including the cat goddess Bast, passed into history.
What canned food is best for cats?
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Whoever has a cat may not be afraid of loneliness. /Daniel Defoe/
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Only cats know how to get food without labor, a home without a lock, and love without worry. /W.L. George/
The veneration of animals can be seen in all the major religions of the ancient world. Sacred animals were revered in ancient Egypt, Greece, Rome. But the unique attitude towards cats was in Egypt. Here they were valued and deified. Why did cats become sacred animals?
On the one hand, this was due to the country's economy, which "specialized" in the cultivation of crops, and cats came up perfectly to protect huge barns from all kinds of rodents.
Egypt 1550-1425 BC
But, watching cats, people paid attention to her cleanliness and touching care for offspring, and cats are also distinguished by playfulness and the ability to fawn on a person. All these qualities corresponded to the goddess of fertility, motherhood and fun - Bast. Therefore, this goddess was personified with a cat. BAST - was considered in ancient Egypt the goddess of fertility and the patroness of love. She served as a symbol of the Sun and the Moon, provided patronage to the souls of the dead who fell into the afterlife, and was also responsible for the fertility of animals and people. People prayed to her for a cure for many diseases. She had the head of a cat and mysterious cat eyes.
Goddess Bast
The Egyptian priests believed, and this belief has survived to this day, that cats are able to take on the karma of a person.
In order to ensure immunity to such an amazing animal in the ancient world, there was only one way - to proclaim it sacred.
Egypt 664-380 BC
The priests of Ancient Egypt proclaimed cats sacred, and since then mere mortals had no right to touch cats, and only the pharaoh could own them. Thus, the cat became an object of religious worship for the Egyptians. This was reflected in the fact that these animals were immortalized in sculptures and paintings, they were honored as a deity. Harm done to a cat was punished severely, and killing an animal was punishable by death. For a dead cat, the owner was supposed to wear mourning for several days and shave off his eyebrows as a sign of the greatest sadness.
Mummy cat. France. Louvre.
The body of the deceased animal was mummified and, after a complex solemn funeral ceremony, was to be buried in a special cat cemetery. This is confirmed by archaeological data: in 1890, during excavations of the ancient city of Bubas-Tisa, near the temple of the goddess Bast, scientists discovered more than 300 well-preserved cat mummies.In ancient Egypt, cats enjoyed almost the same honor and respect as the pharaoh (ruler of the state).
There is also a case when generals used cats in battles with the Egyptians. Knowing how the inhabitants of Egypt revere sacred animals, the Persian king Cambysse ordered live cats to be tied to the shields of his soldiers. It was cruel to the animals, but the population of Egypt surrendered without a fight so as not to harm the cats.
Egypt 3rd century BC
It was forbidden to export these animals outside of Egypt, but according to legends, the Greeks stole several pairs of cats. Soon the animals proliferated and became very popular in Greece. They have successfully replaced semi-wild weasels and ferrets, which were previously used to control rodents - pests.
The villagers appreciated the benefits that cats brought, and tried to tame them. Gradually, cats got used to living next to a person and at the same time maintaining the independence characteristic of these animals.
Egypt 3rd century BC
From ancient Greece, cats came to other European countries, where they also began to enjoy well-deserved honor, as they turned out to be not only excellent hunters, but also devoted friends of man. In addition, the Greeks greatly appreciated the beauty in everything, and the cat is a beautiful and graceful animal.
Italian fresco in Pompei 70 AD
Ancient scientists and philosophers wrote about cats in scientific treatises. For example, the famous Roman historian Pliny the Elder first described the anatomical and physiological features of a cat in his book Natural History.In Europe, the cat was at first considered the keeper of the hearth and personified freedom and independence. Although the Europeans, unlike the ancient Egyptians, did not consider the cat a sacred animal, they treated it with great respect. Then the cat began to be perceived differently, because the obscurantists associated it with the devil and witchcraft and exterminated it in the most cruel ways, allegedly destroying their satanic power. Black cats were considered accomplices of Satan, rumor attributed to them the qualities of creatures dangerous to people. This happened with the encouragement of the ministers of the church. After some time, rats spread in Europe - carriers of a terrible disease, the bubonic plague, which claimed the lives of more than half of the population of European countries.
Plague in Europe
After such circumstances, the cat regained popularity. Even the church changed its attitude towards these animals, which also contributed to the return of universal disposition towards cats.
But even in times of religious fanaticism, there were enlightened people who retained the ability to think rationally. Some monasteries continued to breed cats to catch rodents, which were still damaging people's food supplies. Perhaps because of this, cats were not completely exterminated when their numbers in Europe were greatly reduced.
A cat can be called a truly mystical animal, since many signs are associated with it, which exist to this day, and the interpretation of these signs will often take the opposite in different countries.
Cats gradually populated the countries of Asia, when the active development of trade between Europe and Asia began.
There is a version about a rather original way how the first cat got to the East: it was exchanged for a piece of silk fabric.
Ancient China. Silkworm cocoon processing
The attitude towards this animal in the East was rather peculiar. On the one hand, cats still protected the harvest of silkworm cocoons from mice and rats, and the silk trade is an important part of the economy of Japan and China. But besides this, cats performed another function - they served as a kind of talismans that invariably brought peace, prosperity and family happiness. So in the East they appreciated the charm of these animals. Even today, many people are convinced that with age, the mystical qualities of a living talisman intensify: the older the cat, the more happiness it brings to its owners.
Every Chinese had to have a small ceramic figurine of a cat, which not only decorated the house, but also drove away evil spirits from its inhabitants. It was believed that the presence of these animals contributed to meditation.
