Pussy has always been a favorite in the East, but the country where she
was held in the highest estimation, and treated with the greatest
respect, was Egypt.
The fondness of the Egyptians for their cats is shown in some of their
ancient paintings where the cat is frequently seen by the side of its
master whilst he entertains company. When a cat died the whole household
shaved off their eyebrows in token of mourning; and its body was sent to
the embalmers, and there made into a mummy, and afterwards buried, with
great lamentations, in the cat-sepulchre adjoining the town.
Heredotus, the Greek historian, who had himself spent some time in
Egypt, and witnessed the customs of the natives, tells us that when a
house caught fire the only care of the Egyptians was to save the lives
of the cats, utterly regardless of the destruction of their property.
Bubastis was the sacred city of cats, and there was the temple of the
goddess Pasht, whose statue appeared with the head of a cat. There the
cats reveled in luxury, for they were looked upon as living
representatives of the divinity. The punishment for killing any sacred
animal was death; but woe to the luckless person who even accidentally
killed a cat? for he was set upon by the infuriated people, and torn to
pieces without trial.
[Illustration: EGYPTIAN SAVING HIS CAT.]