Cats throughout history
Relationship between cats an humans throughout history
The domestic cat is present in all continents, but the Antarctic. Archeological remains and genetic evidence suggests that they derive from African wildcats (Felis silvestris lybica) and it’s domestication happened 9000 years ago.
Throughout history cat’s have been part of different cultures so we want to tell you some interesting facts.
Egypt
Their popularity started because they took care of the cereal cultures along the Nile, by protecting it from rodents. They were considered gods to the point that Bastet, the goddess, is represented by a feline figure until today. Back then they were mummified, having special places in temples
Roman Empire
The Romans were the ones that took cats everywhere. They saw them as protectors to an extent that some departments of the Roman army had a cat as their shield symbol.
Middle ages
Cats were persecuted and burned because of the popular belief that they were linked to witches and satanic rituals which almost led to their extermination. The reduced population of cats and the lack of sanitary conditions led to a rise in the number of rats and to the appearance of Black Dead, an infection caused by rodents fleas’ bites. As cats would kill rats, people began to cherish cats again, leading to an increase in their population.
Nowadays
They are seen as the pet of the future because they can adapt to living in small spaces as long as they have all their resources and are more and more popular in our culture, being protagonists in films, series paintings, sculptures, and other art forms.