The African wildcat was first tamed in ancient Egypt some 4,000 years ago, marking the beginning of cat domestication. Cats ...

In ancient Egypt, cats were revered as sacred creatures, often associated with gods and goddesses, most notably Bastet—the goddess of home, fertility, and protection. Cats were seen as ...

Cat coffins and representations of the cat-headed goddess Bastet are among the extraordinary objects that reveal felines’ critical role in ancient Egyptian religious, social, and political life.

Archaeologists identified the partial figures as Bastet, an Egyptian deity who often took the form of a cat, and Harpocrates, another form of the sun god Horus typically depicted as a child.