Cultural depictions of cats
The cultural depiction of cats and their relationship to humans is as old as civilization and stretches back over 9,500 years. Cats have figured in the history of many nations, are the subject of legend and are a favorite subject of artists and writers. Black cats have been associated with death and darkness.
Earliest history
Cats were originally domesticated because they hunted mice who would eat stored grains, protecting the food stores. It was a beneficial situation for both species: cats got a reliable source of prey, and humans got effortless pest control. This mutually beneficial arrangement began the relationship between cats and humans which continues to this day. While the exact history of human interaction with cats is still somewhat vague, a shallow grave site discovered in 1983 in Cyprus, dating to 7500 BCE, during the Neolithic period, contains the skeleton of a human, buried ceremonially with stone tools, a lump of iron oxide, and a handful of seashells. In its own tiny grave 40 centimeters (18 inches) from the human grave was an eight-month-old cat, its body oriented in the same westward direction as the human skeleton. Cats are not native to Cyprus. This is evidence that cats were being tamed just as humankind was establishing the first settlements in the part of the Middle East known as the Fertile Crescent.
Ancient Egypt
Cats, known in ancient Egypt as the mau, played a large role in ancient Egyptian society. They were associated with the goddesses Isis andBast. Cats were very commonly depicted in art and routinely mummified.
China
Cats that were favored pets during the Chinese Song Dynasty were long-haired cats for catching rats, and cats with yellow-and-white fur called 'lion-cats', who were valued simply as cute pets. Cats could be pampered with items bought from the market such as "cat-nests", and were often fed fish that were advertised in the market specifically for cats.
Europe
Folklore dating back to as early as 1607 tells that a cat will suffocate a newborn infant by putting its nose to the child's mouth, sucking the breath out of the infant.
Black cats are generally held to be unlucky in the United States and Europe, and to portend good luck in the United Kingdom. In the latter country, a black cat entering a house or ship is a good omen, and a sailor's wife should have a black cat for her husband's safety on the sea. Elsewhere, it is unlucky if a black cat crosses one's path. White cats, bearing the colour of ghosts, are conversely held to be unlucky in the United Kingdom, while tortoiseshell cats are lucky. It is common lore that cats have nine lives. It is a tribute to their perceived durability, their occasional apparent lack of instinct for self-preservation, and their seeming ability to survive falls that would be fatal to other animals.
Cats were seen as good luck charms by actors, and the cats often helped cure the actors' stage fright.
Classical folklore
The Greek essayist Plutarch linked cats with cleanliness, noting that unnatural odours could make them mad. Pliny linked them with lust, and Aesop with deviousness and cunning.
Middle Ages
Since many equated the Black Death with God's wrath against sin, and cats were often considered in league with the Devil due to their aloof and independent nature, cats were killed in masses. Had this bias toward cats not existed, local rodent populations could have been kept down, lessening the spread of plague-infected fleas from host to host.
Vikings used cats as rat catchers and companions.
A medieval King of Wales, Hywel Dda (the Good) passed legislation making it illegal to kill or harm a cat.
In Medieval Ypres, cats were used in the winter months to control the vermin infesting the wool stored in the upper floors of the Cloth Hall(Lakenhall). At the start of the spring warm-up, after the wool had been sold, the cats were thrown out of the belfry tower to the town square below, which supposedly symbolised "the killing of evil academics". In today's Kattenstoet (Cat Parade), this was commuted to the throwing woolen cats from the top of out houses and also the people from the Middle Ages used to often suck on the wool as a sign of good luck .
Renaissance
In the Renaissance, cats were often thought to be witches' familiars (for example, Greymalkin, the first witch's familiar in Macbeth's famous opening scene), and during festivities were sometimes burnt alive or thrown off tall buildings.
Japan
There is also a small cat shrine (neko jinja (猫神社?)) built in the middle of the Tashirojima island. In the past, the islanders raised silkworms for silk, and cats were kept in order to keep the mouse population down (because mice are a natural predator of silkworms). Fixed-net fishing was popular on the island after the Edo Period and fishermen from other areas would come and stay on the island overnight. The cats would go to the inns where the fishermen were staying and beg for scraps. Over time, the fishermen developed a fondness for the cats and would observe the cats closely, interpreting their actions as predictions of the weather and fish patterns. One day, when the fishermen were collecting rocks to use with the fixed-nets, a stray rock fell and killed one of the cats. The fishermen, feeling sorry for the loss of the cat, buried it and enshrined it at this location on the island.In Japan, there is the Maneki Neko, also referred to in English as the "good fortune" or "good luck" cat. It is usually a sitting cat with paw raised and bent. Legend in Japan has it that a cat waved a paw at a Japanese landlord, who was intrigued by this gesture and went towards it. A few seconds later a lightning bolt struck where the landlord had been previously standing. The landlord attributed his good fortune to the cat's fortuitous action. A symbol of good luck hence, it is most often seen in businesses to draw in money. In Japan, the flapping of the hand is a "come here" gesture, so the cat is beckoning customers.
Another Japanese legend of cats is the bakeneko: when a cat lives to a certain age, it grows another tail and can stand up and speak in a human language.
Russia
Cats have been considered good luck in Russia for centuries. Owning a cat, and especially letting one into a new house before the humans move in, is said to bring good fortune.
Cats have guarded the Hermitage Museum/Winter Palace continually, since Empress Elizabeth's reign, when she was presented by the city of Kazan in Tatarstan five of their best mousers to control the palace's rodent problem. They lived pampered lives and even had special servants until the October Revolution, after which they were cared for by volunteers. Now, they are again looked after by employees.
West Africa
Cats are considered a delicacy by the Ewe people, who believe that eating cat meat, particularly the head, brings good luck to the eater and would prevent them from dying in a foreign land. In Ghana, cats are often associated with witchcraft and evil. Thus, seeing a black cat in one's dream is seen as a bad omen.
Modern culture
Cats have also featured prominently in modern culture. For example, a cat named Mimsey was used by MTM Enterprises as their mascot, and features in their logo as a spoof of the MGM lion.
Other Muezza (Arabic: معزة) was the Prophet Muhammad's favorite cat. The most famous story about Muezza recounts how the call to prayer was given, and as Muhammad went to put on one of his robes, he found his cat sleeping on one of the sleeves. Instead of disturbing the cat he cut off the sleeve and let him sleep. When Muhammad returned, Muezza awoke and bowed down to him, and in return, Muhammad stroked him three times. This is said to be why tabby cats have an "M" on their foreheads. In Celtic Mythology, a Cat Sith is a fairy cat, sith or sidhe (both pronounced shee) meaning fairy. In Catholicism, the patron saint of cats is Saint Gertrude of Nivelles.
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Cat History and Domestication
The history of our modern day cat (Felis silvestris catus) begins with her descent from one of five separate wild cats: the Sardinian wildcat (Felis silvestris lybica), the European wildcat (F. s. silvestris), the Central Asian wildcat (F.s. ornata), the subsaharan African wildcat (F.s. cafra and the Chinese desert cat (F.s. bieti). Each of these species is a distinctive subspecies of F. silvestris. Genetic analysis suggests that all domestic cats derive from at least five founder cats from the Fertile Crescent region, from whence they (or rather their descendants) were transported around the world.
How do you Make a Domestic Cat?
There are two difficulties inherent in determining when and how the cat was domesticated: one is that, unlike many other species, domesticated cats can and do interbreed with their feral cousins; the other is that the primary indicator of cat domestication is their sociability, and we all know how far that goes. Domestic cats are identified archaeologically by their relatively small size (compared to feral cats), by their presence outside of their normal range, and if they are given burials or have collars or the like.
According to cat researcher Sarah Hartwell, one theory of domestication promulgated by archaeologist J.A. Baldwin is that wild cats were first attracted to human settlements by the small rodents who themselves came to feed on agricultural stores. Humans may have simply tolerated or actively encouraged the cats to hang around and essentially guard those stores.
Cat History and Archaeology
The oldest archaeological evidence for domesticated cats was found on the Greek island of Cyprus, where several animal species including cats were introduced by 7500 BC. Further, at the Neolithic site of Shillourokambos, a purposeful cat burial was found next to a human burial, dated between 9500-9200 years before the present. The archaeological deposits of Shillourokambos also included the sculpted head of what looks like a combined human-cat being.
The next is 6th millennium BC Haçilar, Turkey, where female figurines carrying cats or catlike figures in their arms have been discovered. There is some debate about the identification of these creatures as cats. Haçilar is well outside the normal distribution of F. s. lybica.
Cats in Egypt
Up until very recently, most sources believed that domesticated cats became widespread after the Egyptian civilization took its part in the process. One recent paper argues that a cat skeleton discovered in a predynastic tomb (ca. 3700 BC) at Hierakonpolismay be evidence for domestication. The cat, apparently a young male, had a broken left humerus and right femur, both of which had healed prior to the cat's death and burial. Reanalysis of this cat has identified the species as Felis chaus, not F. silvestris, however.
The first illustration of a cat with a collar appears on an Egyptian tomb in Saqqara, dated to the 5th dynasty (Old Kingdom, ca 2500-2350 BC). By the 12th dynasty (Middle Kingdom, ca 1976-1793 BC), cats are definitely domesticated, and the animals appear frequently in Egyptian art paintings and mummies.
The feline goddesses Mafdet, Mehit and Bastet all date to the Early Dynastic period (although Bastet is not associated with domesticated cats until later). Cats are the most frequently mummified animal in Egypt.
Molecular Evidence for Cat Domestication
A recent study suggests that cats were domesticated at the same time as that of wheat and barley in the Fertile Crescent region, that is about 10,000 years ago. Time will tell--the only archaeological data supporting that is at Shillourokambos in Cyprus. This exciting news is definitely not as far-fetched as it might be, given the role of the cat as the hunter of grain-eating rodents. It's one of those arguments about who may have been more domesticated in this relationship--the cat or the human?
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The Cat In History
Cats can be traced back to ancient times in Egypt and Rome. About 4,000 years ago, the ancient Egyptians carved wooden figures of cats. They also made furniture and jewelry in the shape of cats. In ancient Rome, the cat was a symbol of liberty. Scientists believe that the earliest cat was probably an animal called Miacis, which lived about 55 million years ago. Fossils indicate the Miacis looked somewhat like a sease. Scientists believe that members of the cat family as we know it today began to appear about 40 million years ago. The ancestors of the African wildcat, the Kaffir cat of North Africa, and the European wildcat were probably also the ancestors of today's domestic cats. Miacis was somewhat martin-like in appearance. The distinguishing characteristic was the teeth, which set the basis for all modern carnivores. The dental plan had incisors, canines, premolars, carnassials, and molars in each jaw. The carnassials were used for the cutting of flesh in a scissor-like action and were vital in the killing of other predators. Miacis was a short-term creature, quickly evolving under the pressure of competition into several different miacids, each of which went on to become a differing type of carnivore. By 45 million years ago, one of these differing creatures was profelis, the forerunner of all cats. By 40 million years ago, profelis had evolved into hoplophoneus and dinictis. The primary differences between hoplophoneus and dinictis were in jaw structure. In hoplophoneus the upper canines increased drastically in length to become stabbing weapons, with corresponding changes in the jaw hinge to allow the mouth to open extra widely. In dinictis the upper and lower canines became more balanced and the jaw hinge developed more muscle. Both were halfway between a cat and a civit in appearance, long in the body and tail, short in the legs; both had definitely cat-like heads; and both were plantigrade: modern cats are digitigrade and walk on their toes, good for running, while people are plantigrade and walk upon their whole foot, good for standing. About 25 million years ago, hoplophoneus had evolved into smilodon, the famous saber-toothed tiger. Smilodon was definitely a cat in appearance, walking upon his toes and all, but had a somewhat flattened head with a small brain pan (he wasn't very bright). Smilodon was the end of his line, and vanished some 12,000 years ago. The exaggerated tooth structure of the hoplophoneans and especially smilodon was a response to the evolution of the titanotheres, the giant mammals of the early Cenozoic. These animals were huge, with correspondingly thick and/or shaggy coats, which the dagger-like canines of the saber-toothed tiger could pierce to deliver a killing blow. The largest of the titanotheres, and the largest land mammal ever, was the ground sloth baluchitherium, which stood 18 feet at the shoulder (the height of a tall giraffe), and whose head reached 26 feet off the ground. While hoplophoneus was evolving into smilodon, dinictis was also evolving. Dinictis itself had one seemingly trivial, but really very fundamental characteristic: it had three eyelids. Modern cats, and many related species, have three eyelids, the third being the haw, or nictitating membrane. Dinictis evolved into pseudailurus, which was definitely a cat in appearance, not too different from some of the more extreme species of modern cats. Its teeth were identical in structure to those of the modern cat and it was digitigrade, walking on its toes (though not quite as well as the modern cat), but it still had a small brain pan. Some 18 million years ago, the oldest of the modern genera of cats evolved from pseudailurus: acinonyx. The modern cheetah is the only species of acinonyx surviving today and is actually little changed from its early ancestors. Some 12 million years ago, pseudailurus had evolved into felis, the modern lesser cats. Two of the first modern cats to appear were felis lunensis, Martelli's cat, and felis manul, Pallas' cat. These cats had larger brains, surprisingly human- like in structure, and were in all ways true modern cats. Martelli's Cat has become extinct, but Pallas' Cat is still very much with us, the oldest living species of genus felis. By 3 million years ago, the last of the modern genera of cats evolved, panthera, the greater or roaring cats, to which the tigers, lions, leopards and their kin belong. Somewhere between the First and Second Ice Ages, 900,000 to 600,000 years ago, a very special cat, felis sylvestris, made its appearance, and is still with us as the European Wildcat. During the Second Ice Age, the glaciers moved down from the north, driving him southward. At the same time, the Mediterranean and Black Seas were greatly reduced in size, providing many land bridges to the south into Africa and to the east around the foot of the Urals into Asia, allowing him to extend his domain into those regions. As the ice receded the seas rose and the climates changed, the immi- grant species became isolated from each other by water, deserts, and mountains. Over time, those species of wildcat isolated in Africa became the Sand Cat, the African Wildcat, the Forest Cat, and the Black-Footed Cat, while the Asian version became the Chinese Desert Cat. There were, of course, several other subspecies that, for one reason or another, didn't survive the changing landscape and climate. One of felis sylvestris' many offshoots was felis lybica, the African Wildcat. He is still with us, but, more importantly, he is the immediate and primary ancestor of all domestic cats. The Egyptian worshiped cats as gods. They believed the goddess Bast, who represented the life-giving heat of the sun;, had the head of a cat. An Egyptian who harmed a cat was punished. If a person killed a cat, the punishment was usually death. The Egyptians made dead cats into mummies and buried them in cat cemeteries. They also put mummified rats and mice and little saucers of mil in each cat's grave. Scientists have found many of these mummies. Phoenician traders, carrying Egyptian cats on their ships probably brought the first domesticated cats to Europe about 900 BC The crossing of Egyptian cats with European wildcats produced the domestic cat of Europe. European explorers, colonists, and traders brought domestic cats to the America during the 1700's. These animals became the ancestors of most of the cats that live in the United States today.