Cats are such and integral part of our lives that it seems strange that for most of our history there were no domestic cats. While dogs have been our constant companions for at least 15, 000 years (and by some estimates more than 50 000 years), the cat didn’t deign to come and live with us until 10, 000 years ago.
The reason for this is simple. Cats are supreme hunters and did not need charity nor hand-outs to survive.
So why did cats come to live with us at all? Strange as it may seem, it was because of the invention of agriculture. Man learned how to grow large amounts of grain, the grain had to be stored in silos, and these attracted large numbers of rodents. Always the opportunist, the cat moved in to take advantage of this bounty.
Archeological records suggests that the first domesticated cats were descendants of Felis Libyca, the African wild cat. Domestication first occurred in the Middle East, where large scale agriculture originated.
But the African wildcat was not the only contributor to the gene pool of the domestic cat. The European wild cat and the Asian Steppe or Pallas cat are also widely believed to have played a part.
Records regarding the early domestication of cats are scant, but there is evidence that cats were commonly kept as pets as far back as 6, 000 BC. Statues found in Turkey from that date show women playing with cats.
The first written records regarding cats were found in Egypt, and date back to 4,000 BC. The Egyptians regarded cats as the embodiment of the goddess Bast, and killing a cat, even accidentally, carried the death penalty.
When the Romans conquered Egypt, they took domesticated cats back with them to Italy, and from there the cat spread throughout Europe. They became popular as pets in Britain and were revered by the Vikings, whose goddess Freyja, had a chariot drawn by winged cats.
The Middle Ages were a bad time for cats. They were said to be witches familiars, and were routinely killed and tortured. But Europeans paid a heavy price for their cruelty to cats. The deaths of so many cats allowed the rodent population to get out of control, resulting in the Black Death, which decimated the population of the continent.
Eventually the cat’s reputation was redeemed in Europe. By the 1600s, they were again gaining in popularity as pets. It even became common practice for people to make small holes near the bottom of their doors so cats could come and go as they pleased.
In Asia, meanwhile, the cat had always been admired as a bringer of luck and a banisher of evil spirits. They were cherished and revered throughout the Far East, and featured in many art works.
Today the cat remains a popular companion to humans around the world. In America they’ve even surpassed the dog as the most popular pet – a fitting tribute to these elegant and adorable animals.
If you’ve just adopted a cat or kitten, let me be the first to congratulate you. You’ll probably be looking for kitten names, and if so I recommend a visit to www.catnameshq.com. This site has a huge database of cat and kitten names, including an excellent collection of girl cat names.
