Egypt
Scientific American
(by Carlos A. Driscoll, Juliet Clutton-Brock, Andrew C. Kitchener and Stephen J. O'Brien)
See the above link for the rest of the five page story.
- The Cat In Ancient Egypt
Felines in Egypt blog Thanks to Kat Newkirk for forwarding the link to this summary of the role of cats in ancient Egypt. It is written by blog owner Jessica J. Bogg, is accompanied by photographs and contains a list of references at the end. The cat...
- Egyptians Not The First To Domesticate Cats
BBC News By Paul Rincon Alright, so its a bit of a stretch to include this as Egyptology , but it does indicate that domesticated cats are now known in Cyprus before they first appear in Egypt. The oldest known evidence of people keeping cats as pets...
- Ancient Egyptians Loved Their Dead Animals
http://www.discover.com/issues/jul-05/rd/ancient-egyptians-loved-dead-animals Thanks to David Meadows's "Explorator" for the above article on the Discover Magazine website: "As part of an exhibit on mummified animals, Sabin has been analyzing the...
- Menagerie Of Mummies Unwraps Ancient Egypt
http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn6989 New Scientist article about a new collection of animal mummies being studied by the Natural History Museum in London, UK. X-ray analysis of the skeletons of some of the animals, particularly cats, suggests...
- Who Tamed Who
This story about the domestication of cats leaves me to wonder about tolerance rather than "taming". The human home always had mice and I am sure that wild cats were probably tolerated long before they became pets. When the cats around but there are no...
Egypt
Evolution of the House Cat
Scientific American
(by Carlos A. Driscoll, Juliet Clutton-Brock, Andrew C. Kitchener and Stephen J. O'Brien)
It is by turns aloof and affectionate, serene and savage, endearing and exasperating. Despite its mercurial nature, however, the house cat is the most popular pet in the world. A third of American households have feline members, and more than 600 million cats live among humans worldwide. Yet as familiar as these creatures are, a complete understanding of their origins has proved elusive. Whereas other once wild animals were domesticated for their milk, meat, wool or servile labor, cats contribute virtually nothing in the way of sustenance or work to human endeavor. How, then, did they become commonplace fixtures in our homes?
Scholars long believed that the ancient Egyptians were the first to keep cats as pets, starting around 3,600 years ago. But genetic and archaeological discoveries made over the past five years have revised this scenario—and have generated fresh insights into both the ancestry of the house cat and how its relationship with humans evolved.
See the above link for the rest of the five page story.
- The Cat In Ancient Egypt
Felines in Egypt blog Thanks to Kat Newkirk for forwarding the link to this summary of the role of cats in ancient Egypt. It is written by blog owner Jessica J. Bogg, is accompanied by photographs and contains a list of references at the end. The cat...
- Egyptians Not The First To Domesticate Cats
BBC News By Paul Rincon Alright, so its a bit of a stretch to include this as Egyptology , but it does indicate that domesticated cats are now known in Cyprus before they first appear in Egypt. The oldest known evidence of people keeping cats as pets...
- Ancient Egyptians Loved Their Dead Animals
http://www.discover.com/issues/jul-05/rd/ancient-egyptians-loved-dead-animals Thanks to David Meadows's "Explorator" for the above article on the Discover Magazine website: "As part of an exhibit on mummified animals, Sabin has been analyzing the...
- Menagerie Of Mummies Unwraps Ancient Egypt
http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn6989 New Scientist article about a new collection of animal mummies being studied by the Natural History Museum in London, UK. X-ray analysis of the skeletons of some of the animals, particularly cats, suggests...
- Who Tamed Who
This story about the domestication of cats leaves me to wonder about tolerance rather than "taming". The human home always had mice and I am sure that wild cats were probably tolerated long before they became pets. When the cats around but there are no...