The first domesticated cat was probably descended from an African wildcat tamed by Egyptians around 3500 BC.
The cat was one of the most sacred of all animals to the ancient Egyptians and Cats were mummified in enormous numbers.
The Egyptian goddess of love was called Bast; she had the head of a cat and body of a woman.
The ancient Egyptians also appear to have trained jungle cats to hunt without really domesticating them.
In ancient Roman mythology, cats accompanied Diana, goddess of the moon and the hunt, and they were at home in Asian temples and palaces.
Cats then were taken to all areas of the world where man went. Greek traders brought pet cats to Europe and the Middles East.
Sometime between 2000 BC and AD 400, cats were taken to Siam from Egypt by grain traders.
In Christendom the cats were considered to be the favorite animals of the Virgin Mary until the outbreak of witch-hunting mania the late Middle Ages.
At that time Christian associated cats with pagan cults and witches, so that the cat often burned alive by Christian.
While the pilgrims brought cats with them to America in the seventeenth century.
History of cats
