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Encyclopedia of Religion entry forCat, TheIn ancient Egypt the cat was regarded as a sacred animal, " especially in the nome of Bubastis, where eat-mummies may be counted by tens of thou-sands " (S. Reinach, Cults). The goddess Bast is figured with the head of a cat. It was a crime to kill cats; and it was forbidden in early times to export them from Egypt. Among the Greeks and Romans they were practically unknown. Not until the fourth century, when Christianity triumphed in Egypt, did the domestic cat begin to travel. The Greek monks when they left Egypt to preach in Europe took the cat with them. " Thus," says Reinach, " the cat, a local totem in Egypt, tamed and domesticated in that country only, spread over Europe when Egyptian paganism had vanished and all the barriers reared by the old cult had been leveled with the ground." In Scandinavian mythology the chariot of Freyja, a goddess of fertility, was drawn by cats. The Mangs, a low caste of the Maratha Districts in India, regard the cat as a sacred animal. Their most solemn oath is sworn on a cat. citations: Encyc. of Rel., Canney
article created 2006-04-12 , last updated 2006-04-12 |
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