Old Friends

Sabertooth's Pride

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Old Friends

Our Shared History

Felines and humans go way back to the beginning of the earliest hominid species. Suffice to say, we weren't always buddies. Various sabertooth and scimitar tooth cats, cave lions, and other large felines frequently made meals of our ancestors and primitive cousins. Yet humans are fascinated with cats as totems and objects of veneration.

At some point in history - and it keeps going further back as new discoveries are made - a small wild cat started to habituate human territories. Many historians claim that the cats came when agriculture took over old hunting and gathering practices.

Whatever the story, as soon as the cat became domesticated, we have had cats as ratters, companions, gods, and even devils. Looking at the sleeping cat atop my computer, I wonder what she thinks she is...

The First Domestic Cats

On Cyprus during the 1980's, an ancient cat jawbone hinted that humans had tamed these non-native animals. Foxes and other wild animals were also introduced to islands near Cyprus around this time, however. Humans could have brought the cats from the mainland, but hadn't necessarily tamed them.

In Shillourokambos, a large Neolithic village (circa 8,300 - 7000 BCE), researchers found a human grave containing a variety of polished stones, tools, jewelry and other items believed to be offerings. A small pit with 24 complete sea shells lay nearby. The skeleton's pelvis was damaged, making it difficult to determine gender. The offerings were relatively rich for time and region, however, implying that he or she enjoyed some degree of social status. Next to the body, its head facing the same way, was a cat skeleton.

The cat belonged to the Felis silvestris species, i.e. the wildcat, which is significantly larger than modern domestic cats. The cat's bones had no evidence of butchering and scientists believe that the animal was a pet. Not only that, the cat must have had a special relationship or connection to the human for them to have been buried together in such a special way. The cat was about 8 months old when it died, suggesting that it may have been killed to bury it with its owner.

Historians believed that the Ancient Egyptians first domesticated the cat around 4000 years ago. Today, new evidence suggests that cats were important in other parts of the world long before that. In Syria, Israel, and Turkey, stone and clay cat figurines point to an interest in cats over 10,000 years old. This dating would coincide with the time humans developed agriculture in the Fertile Crescent.

To make things even more interesting, domestic cats were recently traced back to a single wild ancestor whose relatives still live in the remote deserts of the Middle East today. Previously, scientist knew very little about the genetic relationships between the various cat types, including wild vs. domestic species. Since house cats can and often do breed with wild species, it was almost impossible to differentiate between a hybrid wild-domestic feline and a purely wild or house variety.

Behavior is the key difference. Domestic cats can live in groups and do not generally fear people. Turning to genetics,Carlos Driscoll of the National Cancer Institute and his colleagues analyzed genetic material from nearly 1,000 cats, including domestic cats and the wild cat subspecies: the European wildcat, Near Eastern wildcat, Central Asian wildcat, southern African wildcat and Chinese desert cat.

The team discovered that each wild group represents a subspecies of the wildcat Felis silvestris. The DNA from domestic cats matched up with that of the Near Eastern wildcat subspecies, Felis silvestris lybica, which still prowls in the remote deserts of Israel and Saudi Arabia. Not only that, this ancient lineage originated far older than previously thought: about 130,000 years ago.

The cats apparently took two separate routes out of the Middle East. One group trekked to Egypt while the others traveled from Mesopotamia to India, then to China and much later made their way to Japan. When the cat genome is completed, O'Brien and his colleagues hope to isolate the specific genes related to cat tameness.

1st Century Pompeii Mosaic

Pet Cats in the Ancient World

     Approximately 11,000 to 10,000 years ago, agricultural societies arose in Western Asia. It was probably around this time that wild cats, attracted by the small rodents infesting the grain stocks, began to frequent human habitations. Our ancestors quickly realized that the cats helped protect the precious grain supply by killing off the vermin. It was the start of a beautiful friendship.

     Small terracotta and clay figurines dating about 10,500 years old have been found in Israel, Syria, and Turkey. Cats, once thought to have been domesticated by the Egyptians around 4,000 years ago, were already in the households of other ancient people. Over 22 small terracotta images of women playing with cats were found in Hacilar, Turkey at a 7,000 year old neolithic site. The biggest find so far was a 9,500 year old burial site in Cyprus (see article above) where a cat and its owner shared a rich grave site.

     The Ancient Greeks, while credited for stealing Egyptian cats and bringing them into Europe, have scant references to felines in their artwork and literature. The cats were great for use in trade, but were not popular as pets. By far, the Greeks preferred dogs. Cats don't even seem to be part of the family. Furthermore, to control mice, the ancient Greeks relied on "weasels" as mousers - not cats! The sentimental cat portrayals found in Egyptian or Roman art are noticeably absent.

     A 16th century Mycenaean dagger features small, spotted cats hunting waterfowl. The depiction is very close to an Egyptian frieze of a domestic cat hunting with its owner. It is possible that cats could have flushed out avian prey.

     Unfortunately, the ancient Greeks very likely used cats in cruel sporting events, pitting them against rats, dogs, and other animals. One sculpture found in Athens depicts a cat about to be set upon by a dog while their owners egg them on.

     On the other hand, the Ancient Romans had a better appreciation for the domestic cat. To the Romans, cats represented freedom. They associated the cat with their goddess of liberty and cats were the only animals allowed in Roman temples (other than the sacrifices). The original Statue of Liberty - that of the Roman goddess - always had a cat at her feet.

     In Pompeii, a gorgeous mosaic of a cat hunting birds once graced the wall of one of the richer houses. That cats were once prevalent in the city was reflected by the artwork, accounts of historians, and the burial of pet cats with their owners.  In the aftermath of Vesuvius, however, not a cat was to be found! Many animals - including cats - fled both Pompeii and Herculaneum before the volcano erupted.

     Because the Roman army kept cats as mascots, they brought cats to every corner of the Empire. Thus, the cat conquered places like Britain about the same time the Romans landed. Even if the populace hated the Romans, they sure loved the cats!

     Cats are the only domestic animal not mentioned in the Bible. Some groups have taken this to mean that cats are evil. However, the Bible has no trouble mentioning what it considers evil, so if cats were bad there'd be passages about them. It is more likely that cats just weren't important enough to the Biblical societies to mention. Another possibility was that cats were avoided because of their association as gods in Egypt.

     Ah, Egypt! Since just about everyone is familiar with the VIP treatment accorded felines in Ancient Egypt, we will not repeat the history here. Suffice it to say, cats were once gods! And - if our devotion to our pet cats means anything - they have never forgotten it.

All text content and research on Sabertooth's Pride and the SP linked sites were created by Muninn of Hercules Invictus unless otherwise credited.

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(c) 2007 Hercules Invictus