Editing Cat (section)

== History and mythology ==
{{Main|Cultural depictions of cats|Cats in ancient Egypt}}
{{Multiple images|direction=vertical
|image1=Louvre egyptologie 21.jpg
|caption1=The ancient Egyptians [[Mummy|mummified]] dead cats out of respect in the same way that they mummified people.<ref name="Clutton-Brock1999">{{Cite book |title=A Natural History of Domesticated Mammals |last=Clutton-Brock |first=J. |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |location=Cambridge, England<!--This is not redundant; there's a Cambridge, Massachusetts, also, with academic publishers.--> |date=1999 |isbn=9780521634953 |edition=2nd |pages=133–140 |chapter=Cats |oclc=39786571 |orig-year=1987 |chapter-url= https://books.google.com/books?id=cgL-EbbB8a0C&pg=PA133 |access-date=25 October 2020 |archive-date=22 January 2021 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210122145647/https://books.google.com/books?id=cgL-EbbB8a0C&pg=PA133 |url-status=live}}</ref>
|image2=Cat birds MAN Napoli Inv9993.jpg
|caption2=An ancient [[Roman mosaic]] depicts a cat killing a [[partridge]] from the [[House of the Faun]] in [[Pompeii]].
|image3=PSM V37 D105 English tabby cat.jpg
|caption3=A 19th-century drawing of a tabby cat
|image4=Black Cat (7983739954).jpg
|caption4=Some cultures superstitiously attribute good or bad luck to black cats.
}}
In [[ancient Egypt]], cats were [[animal worship|revered]], and the goddess [[Bastet]] often depicted in cat form, sometimes taking on the war-like aspect of a lioness. The Greek historian [[Herodotus]] reported that killing a cat was forbidden, and when a household cat died, the entire family mourned and shaved their eyebrows. Families took their dead cats to the sacred city of [[Bubastis]], where they were embalmed and buried in sacred repositories. Herodotus expressed astonishment at the domestic cats in Egypt, because he had only ever seen wildcats.<ref name="Malek1997">{{cite book |title=The Cat in Ancient Egypt |last=Malek |first=J. |date=1997 |publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press |isbn=9780812216325 |edition=Revised}}</ref>

Ancient Greeks and Romans kept [[weasel]]s as pets, which were seen as the ideal rodent-killers. The earliest unmistakable evidence of the Greeks having domestic cats comes from two coins from [[Magna Graecia]] dating to the mid-fifth century BC showing Iokastos and Phalanthos, the legendary founders of [[Reggio Calabria|Rhegion]] and [[Taranto|Taras]] respectively, playing with their pet cats. The usual ancient Greek word for 'cat' was {{lang|grc-Latn|ailouros}}, meaning 'thing with the waving tail'. Cats are rarely mentioned in [[ancient Greek literature]]. [[Aristotle]] remarked in his ''[[History of Animals]]'' that "female cats are naturally [[Promiscuity|lecherous]]". The Greeks later [[Interpretatio graeca|syncretized]] their own goddess [[Artemis]] with the Egyptian goddess Bastet, adopting Bastet's associations with cats and ascribing them to Artemis. In [[Ovid]]'s ''[[Metamorphoses]]'', when the deities flee to Egypt and take animal forms, the goddess [[Diana (mythology)|Diana]] turns into a cat.<ref name="Engels2001">{{Cite book |last=Engels |first=D. W. |title=Classical Cats: The Rise and Fall of the Sacred Cat |date=2001 |orig-year=1999 |publisher=Routledge |location=London |isbn=9780415261623 |chapter=Greece |pages=[https://archive.org/details/classicalcats00dona/page/48 48–87] |chapter-url= https://books.google.com/books?id=XAkeCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA68 |url= https://archive.org/details/classicalcats00dona/page/48}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Rogers |first=K. M. |title=Cat |date=2006 |publisher=Reaktion Books |location=London |isbn=9781861892928 |chapter=Wildcat to Domestic Mousecatcher |pages=7–48 |chapter-url= https://books.google.com/books?id=16ZsW4QLKlUC&pg=PA19 |access-date=5 June 2020 |archive-date=27 July 2020 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20200727182342/https://books.google.com/books?id=16ZsW4QLKlUC&pg=PA19 |url-status=live}}</ref>

Cats eventually displaced [[weasel]]s as the pest control of choice because they were more pleasant to have around the house and were more enthusiastic hunters of mice. During the [[Middle Ages]], many of Artemis's associations with cats were grafted onto the [[Mary, mother of Jesus|Virgin Mary]]. Cats are often shown in icons of [[Annunciation]] and of the [[Holy Family]] and, according to [[Folklore of Italy|Italian folklore]], on the same night that Mary gave birth to [[Jesus]], a cat in [[Bethlehem]] gave birth to a kitten.<ref name="Beadle1977">{{Cite book |last=Beadle |first=M. |title=Cat |date=1977 |publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]] |location=New York |isbn=9780671224516 |chapter=Ups and Downs |pages=[https://archive.org/details/cathistorybiolog00bead/page/75 75–88] |chapter-url= https://books.google.com/books?id=tnjgqpNKYksC&pg=PA75 |url= https://archive.org/details/cathistorybiolog00bead/page/75}}</ref> Domestic cats were spread throughout much of the rest of the world during the [[Age of Discovery]], as [[Ship's cat|ships' cats]] were carried on [[sailing ship]]s to control shipboard rodents and as good-luck charms.<ref name="Faure2009" />

Several ancient religions believed cats are exalted souls, companions or guides for humans, that are all-knowing but mute so they cannot influence decisions made by humans. In Japan, the {{lang|ja-Latn|[[maneki neko]]}} cat is a symbol of good fortune.<ref>{{cite journal |url= http://www.darumamagazine.com/new/articles-excerpts/maneki-neko-feline-fact-fiction/ |title=Maneki Neko: Feline Fact & Fiction |first=A. |last=Pate |journal=Daruma Magazine |year=2008 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130314191210/http://www.darumamagazine.com/new/articles-excerpts/maneki-neko-feline-fact-fiction/ |archive-date=14 March 2013 |url-status=dead}}</ref> In [[Norse mythology]], [[Freyja]], the goddess of love, beauty, and fertility, is depicted as riding a chariot drawn by cats.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Faulkes |first=A. |date=1995 |title=Edda |page=24 |isbn=9780460876162}}</ref> In [[Legends of the Jews|Jewish legend]], the first cat was living in the house of the first man [[Adam]] as a pet that got rid of [[mice]]. The cat was once partnering with the first dog before the latter broke an oath they had made which resulted in enmity between the descendants of these two animals. It is also written that neither cats nor [[fox]]es are represented in the water, while every other animal has an incarnation species in the water.<ref name="Ginzberg">{{Cite book |last=Ginzberg |first=L. |date=1909 |title=The Legends of the Jews, Vol. I: The Sixth Day |url= http://www.swartzentrover.com/cotor/e-books/misc/Legends/Legends%20of%20the%20Jews.pdf |translator-first=H. |translator-last=Szold |location=Philadelphia |publisher=[[Jewish Publication Society]] |access-date=19 February 2018 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20180516120617/http://www.swartzentrover.com/cotor/e-books/misc/Legends/Legends%20of%20the%20Jews.pdf |archive-date=16 May 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref> Although no species are sacred in Islam, [[Islam and cats|cats are revered by Muslims]]. Some Western writers have stated [[Muhammad]] had a favorite cat, ''[[Muezza]]''.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Geyer |first=G. A. |title=When Cats Reigned Like Kings: On the Trail of the Sacred Cats |publisher=[[Andrews McMeel Publishing]] |location=Kansas City, Missouri |date=2004 |isbn=9780740746970 |url= https://archive.org/details/whencatsreignedl00geor}}</ref> He is reported to have loved cats so much, "he would do without his cloak rather than disturb one that was sleeping on it".<ref name="Reeves">{{Cite book |first=M. |last=Reeves |title=Muhammad in Europe |publisher=[[New York University Press]] |page=[https://archive.org/details/muhammadineurope0000reev/page/52 52] |isbn=9780814775332 |date=2000 |url= https://archive.org/details/muhammadineurope0000reev/page/52}}</ref> The story has no origin in early Muslim writers, and seems to confuse a story of a later [[Sufi]] saint, [[Ahmed ar-Rifa'i]], centuries after Muhammad.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://library.islamweb.net/newlibrary/display_book.php?idfrom=5401&idto=5401&bk_no=60&ID=5263 |title=Biography of al-Rifai |last=Al-Thahabi |first=S. |work=سير أعلام النبلاء |language=ar |access-date=11 November 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20141025030332/http://library.islamweb.net/newlibrary/display_book.php?idfrom=5401&idto=5401&bk_no=60&ID=5263 |archive-date=25 October 2014}}</ref> One of the companions of Muhammad was known as [[Abu Hurayrah]] ("father of the kitten"), in reference to his documented affection to cats.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://pictures-of-cats.org/abu-hurairah-and-cats.html |title=Abu Hurairah and Cats |date=13 January 2015 |first1=Michael |last1=Broad |work=Pictures-of-Cats.org |access-date=5 March 2018 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20180305203105/http://pictures-of-cats.org/abu-hurairah-and-cats.html |archive-date=5 March 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Superstitions and rituals ===
[[File:The Love Potion.jpg|thumb|''[[The Love Potion]]'' is a 1903 painting by [[Evelyn De Morgan]] depicting a [[witch]] with a black cat.]]
Many cultures have negative [[superstition]]s about cats. For example, that encountering a [[black cat]] ("crossing one's path")<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Roud |first1=Stephen |title=The Penguin guide to the superstitions of Britain and Ireland |last2=Roud |first2=Stephen |date=2003 |publisher=Penguin Books |isbn=978-0-14-100673-4 |location=London |pages=67}}</ref> leads to bad luck, or that cats are witches' [[familiar spirit]]s used to augment a witch's powers and skills. The killing of cats in medieval [[Ypres]], [[Belgium]], is commemorated in the innocuous present-day [[Kattenstoet]] (cat parade).<ref>{{cite web |title=Are Black Cats Really Bad Luck? [Hoax] |url=http://socialnewsdaily.com/58901/are-black-cats-really-bad-luck-hoax/ |work=Social News Daily |first1= K. |last1=Adzo |date=2015 |access-date=19 December 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151222141607/http://socialnewsdaily.com/58901/are-black-cats-really-bad-luck-hoax/ |archive-date=22 December 2015}}</ref> In mid-16th century France, [[Cat-burning|cats were allegedly burnt alive]] as a form of entertainment, particularly during midsummer festivals. According to [[Norman Davies]], the assembled people "shrieked with laughter as the animals, howling with pain, were singed, roasted, and finally [[Carbonization|carbonized]]".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Davies |first=N. |title=Europe: A History |date=1996 |publisher=Oxford University Press |place=Oxford |isbn=9780198201717 |page=543 |url=https://archive.org/details/europehistory00davi_0/page/543}}</ref> The remaining ashes were sometimes taken back home by the people for good luck.<ref>{{Cite book |url=http://www.bartleby.com/196/164.html |title=The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion |last=Frazer |first=J. G. |publisher=Dover Publications |date=2002 |isbn=0486424928 |edition=Abridged |location=Mineola, New York |oclc=49942157 |orig-year=1922 |access-date=28 February 2017 |archive-date=8 December 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061208190208/http://www.bartleby.com/196/164.html |url-status=live}}</ref>

According to a myth in many cultures, cats have multiple lives. In many countries, they are believed to have nine lives, but in Italy, Germany, Greece, Brazil, and some Spanish-speaking regions, they are said to have seven lives,<ref>{{Cite news |title=Las vidas del gato |year=2010 |url= http://elcomercio.pe/impresa/notas/vidas-gato/20100307/423959 |access-date=19 March 2010 |first=N. |last=Sugobono |language=es |work=[[El Comercio (Peru)]] |location=Lima, Peru |url-status=dead |archive-date=27 January 2012 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120127052854/http://elcomercio.pe/impresa/notas/vidas-gato/20100307/423959}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Qual é a origem da lenda de que os gatos teriam sete vidas? |language=pt-BR |work=[[Mundo Estranho]] |publisher=[[Abril Media]] |location=São Paulo, Brazil |access-date=15 November 2015 |url= http://mundoestranho.abril.com.br/materia/qual-e-a-origem-da-lenda-de-que-os-gatos-teriam-sete-vidas |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151117031757/http://mundoestranho.abril.com.br/materia/qual-e-a-origem-da-lenda-de-que-os-gatos-teriam-sete-vidas |archive-date=17 November 2015}}</ref> while in Arabic traditions, the number of lives is six.<ref>{{Cite news |work=[[The Guardian]] |url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/gallery/2010/mar/18/guide-to-pets-pet-myths?picture=360591960 |access-date=15 November 2023 |first=T. |last=Dowling |title=Tall tails: Pet myths busted |date=2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130909160834/http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/gallery/2010/mar/18/guide-to-pets-pet-myths?picture=360591960|archive-date=9 September 2013}}</ref> An early mention of the myth is in [[John Heywood]]'s ''The Proverbs of John Heywood'' (1546):<ref>{{cite book |first=J. |last=Heywood |author-link=John Heywood |editor-first=J. |editor-last=Sharman |url=https://archive.org/details/proverbsofjohnhe00heywrich/page/104/mode/2up |title=The Proverbs of John Heywood |date=1874 |page=104}}</ref>
{{Poem quote|text=Husband, ([[:wikt:quoth#Verb 2|quoth]] she), ye studie, be merrie now,
And even as ye thinke now, so come to yow.
Nay not so, (quoth he), for my thought to tell right,
I thinke how you lay [[:wikt:groning#English|groning]], wife, all last night.
Husband, ''a groning horse and a groning wife''
''Never faile their master'', (quoth she), for my life.
No wife, ''a woman [[:wikt:hath#English|hath]] nine lives like a cat''.}}

The myth is attributed to the natural suppleness and swiftness cats exhibit to escape life-threatening situations.<ref>{{cite web |title=Can Cats Cheat Death? |url=https://be.chewy.com/behavior-pet-facts-do-cats-really-have-nine-lives/ |website=BeChewy |date=6 October 2017 |access-date=25 September 2023 |archive-date=25 September 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230925171409/https://be.chewy.com/behavior-pet-facts-do-cats-really-have-nine-lives/ |url-status=live}}</ref> Falling cats often land on their feet, using an instinctive [[cat righting reflex|righting reflex]] to twist their bodies around.<ref>{{cite press release |url=http://cats.about.com/od/catsafety/a/highrisefalls.htm |title=The ASPCA Warns About High-rise Falls by Cats: High-rise Apartments, Windows, Terraces and Fire Escapes Pose Risk to Urban Cats |date=30 June 2005 |author=<!--staff writer(s)--> |publisher=[[American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals]] |via=About.com |access-date=2 March 2025 |location=New York |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120522014805/http://cats.about.com/od/catsafety/a/highrisefalls.htm |archive-date=22 May 2012}}</ref>
{{clear}}