HISTORY

EGYPTIAN MAU HISTORY

Animal worship in ancient Egypt is part of the culture of daily life of Egyptians. Animals of every kind were respected and revered, as they were in close contact with deities and gods that the average Egyptian could not reach.

The cat in ancient Egypt, or miw (to see), was a sacred and respected beast. These small companions fascinated the Egyptians, and were venerated by all. It was in Egypt that the cat was first domesticated 4,000 years ago and where they were held in the most admiration and respect. There is evidence of wild felines around the banks of Egypt, but it was not until around 2000 BCE that the fully domesticated cat was brought into the houses of Egyptians.

The first domesticated Egyptian cats in Egypt were more than likely used for warding off the common asp and other snakes, and the typical chasers of rodents. Slowly though, the cat became more to the Egyptians than just a normal animal, the cat became a god.

During the New Kingdom (1540 to 1069 BC), there were many tomb scenes that started showing cats as part of everyday life. The ancient Egyptians took their cats on hunting excursions instead of dogs, The most popular excursions being the marshes where cats may have been trained to retrieve fowl and fish. Another very common scene in tomb paintings was the picturing of a cat seated underneath a woman's chair. Children had become known in their family as Mit or Miut, showing great affection not only for the child but for the cat as well. Statues of cats were placed outside the house to protect the inhabitants and to ward off evil spirits. This showed scientists that the cat had become an integral part of the ancient Egyptian family life.

Mafdet was the first Egyptian feline deity, sometimes depicted as a lynx, but the most famous cat goddesses in the world, first revered by the ancient Egyptians were Bastet (also known as Bast, Pasch, Ubasti) and the lion-headed Sekhmet.

Bastet had the roles of fertility, protector of children and the protector of all cats. Bastet became so popular infact that she became a household goddess. This goddess was called Bastet when in full cat form, and Bast when only having the head of one and the body of a beautiful woman. Bastet's counterpart was the goddess Sekhmet who represented the cat goddess' destructive force. Sekhmet is known as the goddess of war and pestilence. Together, Bastet and Sekhmet represented the balance of the forces of nature in Egypt.

In Bubastis, or Tell Basta, the cats lived a lavish life as the `embodiment' of Bastet in her temples. Here they were served upon and taken care of until they passed away, and it was here that their bodies were mummified and given as offerings to Bastet. Bubastis contains the remains of over 300,000 cat mummies. Upon being inspected, some feline mummies had severe trauma to the head or neck, signifying that they were killed on purpose, perhaps to lower the growing population or for offerings for Bastet. Giza, Abydos, and Dendereh were also feline tomb cities other than Bubastis.

When a cat died their former owners and occupants of the house would go into deep mourning and shave their eyebrows as a sign of grief. People are not the only mummies in Egypt, as the cat was also mummified significantly. The process of feline mummification had six steps:

1. Removal of organs

2. Body is stuffed with sand or packing material

3. Feline is placed in a sitting position

4. Body is wrapped tightly

5. Faces and designs are painted on wrappings with black ink

6. No chemicals, only natural dehydration

In the tombs of the cats were set bowls of milk along with mice and rats.

Cats were not only protected by almost every occupant of Egypt, but also by the law. So extreme infact was the devoutness of the Egyptian culture to the cat, that if a human killed a feline, either intentionally or unintentionally, that human was sentenced to death. Laws were set that also forbid the exportation of cats, though more often than not, many were smuggled to the neighboring Mediterranean countries. Documents state that armies sometimes were set out to recapture these cats from the foreign lands.

Herodotus stated a story once about a fire in a house in Egypt. The men from the house stood outside in a line to protect the cats from harm and danger. Another statement from Herodotus explains even greater the significance of the cat to Egypt. Herodotus begins with the Egyptians in war with Persia. The Persian general had decided to collect as many cats that his men could find or steal, knowing the great importance of the cat to Egypt. The soldiers then returned to the town of Pelusium and set the cats free on the battlefield. Horrified, the Egyptians surrendered the city to the Persians rather than harm the cats.

The cat held a powerful spot in the history of Egypt. While she protected his land and his people, she also protected the mystique that is and was the cat in ancient Egypt.

by Leah Marie Graham 2004

Resources

Ruiz, Ana. The Spirit of Ancient Egypt. New York; Algora Publishing, 2001

During World War lithe Mau faced extinction. The Mau was soon saved by the exiled Russian princess, Nathalie Troubetskoy. The efforts of the Princess brought the Mau back from the edge of extinction.

One day, while she was staying in Italy, a young boy gave her a silver spotted female kitten that he had been keeping in a shoe box. The kitten had been given to the boy by a diplomat working in the Middle East. Troubetskoy strived to learn more about the kitten. Her research lead her to conclude that the kitten was an Egyptian Mau. Troubetskoy became determined to save the Mau.

She rescued some of the remaining Maus, and using her political connections, she obtained several more through the Syrian embassy. Her first Maus were Gregorio, a black male, and Lulu, a silver female, and Geppa, a smoke male. In 1956, Troubetskoy and three Maus a silver female Fatima Baba, a bronze male Fatima Jojo, and the third was apparently never bred, immigrated to the United States. Once there, Troubetskoy established her Fatima Cattery and promoted the breed. Many modern Maus can trace their ancestry back to Troubetskoy’s cats.

It is thought that Troubetskoy used outside cats as a source of out crossing to begin with during this period, although not documented, to insure the health of the breed. Only three colors of Mau are in early pedigrees, Silver, Bronze and Smoke. Although there had to be blacks during this period because of the Smoke, none were ever recorded until some years later. There is some evidence that blues also occurred during this time, but like the black the blue wasn’t accepted for registration until recently in some associations so it makes it harder to track how far back or when they appeared. Some attribute the dilute and possibly the recessive classic tabby pattern gene to the out crosses used early on.

In the 1970s mans began to suffer again from the limited gene pool. Something had to be done. In 1980. Jean S. Mill, (Millwood cattery, currently a Bengal breeder) was contacted by a zoo in New Delhi, India. There was a cat running loose in the rhino pen that had gotten its tail mostly severed. She saved the cat (Millwood Toby in CVA and Millwood Tory of Delhi) a bronze male, along with another bronze female (Millwood Tashi) and created the “Indian lines”. These cats introduced the glitter gene, improved the health, improved the clarity and contrast of spotting and produced a richer rufousing in the bronze. This opened the registries for imports to he accepted.

In the 1980s. Cathie Rowan (Rocat ) succeeded in bringing thirteen mans into America, paving the way for more imports. In the early 1090’s, J. Len Davidson (Grandtrill) brought in four more Maus from Egypt. These cats were Grandtrill Giza, Grandtrill Wafaya, Grandtrill Hosny, and GrandtrillAlexandria, all bronze. These cats produced the “Egyptian” Lines. These lines are larger than the other two lines. They produce much bigger litters, are extremely intelligent and have greatly increased the gene pool.

The most recent import was Fondcombe’s Sahourê. He was imported from Egypt to France by Marie-Christine Hallepee in 1999.

The imports we see today in the Egyptian Mau are taken directly off the streets of Egypt and India. So their heritage remains unknown. They are essential to the breed to maintain the Mau’s health, vitality, and longevity. Had it not been for the efforts of the heroines who strived to save the dying breed, the Egyptian Mau would most likely be lost to us forever.