Patrons of Civility

The earliest archeological evidence of cat domestication was uncovered on the island of Cyprus. A grave shared by a man and an eight-month-old cat buried alongside him, dating back to the last period of the Stone Age – the Neolithic. This grave was created nine thousand and a half years ago, predating the famous cats of ancient Egypt by four thousand years. This also predates Britain as an island – it was still connected to Holland by a land bridge. Cyprus has no native cat species, so this grave not only reveals a striking and relatable close bond between a human and his feline companion, it also demonstrates that this area was populated with cats via migration alongside humans amphibiously. Archeological evidence suggests that this migration may have occurred via dugout canoes as this is the earliest type of boat found, with the oldest - known as the Presse Canoe - found in the Netherlands, dating between 8040 BC and 7510 BC. Thus, we can imagine that in dugout canoes fashioned from hollowed tree trunks, perhaps in combination with some other more delicate craft which has not survived in the ground well enough to be traced thus far, these cats voyaged to settle European soil from the Neolithic fertile crescent. Likely passed nuggets of meat through the bars of a stick-cage whilst moaning and panting in fear, as if taking a trip to the vet whilst assaulted by the sound of an engine.

It’s important to note that the Neolithic period at large is defined by the embrace of agriculture in certain areas, sometimes referred to as the ‘Neolithic revolution’- although of course like anything in pre-history this was not a sudden event and was a result of the changes that occurred during the 10 thousand year ‘Epipalaeolithic’ period which came before. In particularly fertile regions such as the heartland of modern China between the Yangtze and Huang He rivers, the Nile valley, and the Fertile Crescent that traces the Tigris and Euphrates across Mesopotamia and the Levant, permanent agricultural societies arose during the Neolithic period. Thus, in these corners of the general human population which mostly remained hunting and gathering for thousands of years longer, the perfect environment for the cat was formed. The humans built stiffer settlements with regular heating arrangements and protection from wind and rain, any predator large enough to chase a cat would be killed in order to protect children and livestock, and most importantly the constant localised stockpile of food that the humans had formed around themselves via their new system meant that vermin had become an increasingly serious problem.

Before the cat, what was the solution to dealing with these troublesome pests? It’s hard to overstate the problem posed by these agile, numerous and tiny granivores. They are still with us today. Small birds like crows or pigeons, mice, and rats take their pickings from settled human society and multiply as a result. Lacking modern technology and with extremely scare resources, this would have been a great blight for the Neolithic farmer. Labour intensive work meant that the adults time would have been valuable, and despite this, how can a big gangly human efficiently deal with these massively mobile masticators? Children could be put to the task, but they would be even less effective, and may have been just as busy assisting the farm directly. Dogs? They were certainly available in this time period, but the development of any breed which could be considered anything approaching a ‘ratter’ was far off. The large dogs of the Neolithic period would cause a great ruckus chasing a rodent, knocking things over, and letting all the other vermin in the area know where they were, whilst the little bandit would likely just escape by going in or under something.

It’s most likely that the entrance of the cat to human life was very incremental. Following vermin populations, the cats would have naturally ranged closer to human settlements in greater numbers as populations, farms, and their surrounding ecosystem of scavenging animals grew. I would estimate their main barrier to symbiosis with humans early on would have been domestic dog as well as human predation. However, it’s likely that the usefulness of the wildcat was quickly realised by these burgeoning agricultural communities. In a process which progressed at differing rates in different localities, these cats became less fearful of humans. When an impressive level of tameness was achieved in a community they would likely have been bred and traded for other vital resources, incentivising the spread of sociable feline populations across the fertile crescent and southern Anatolia.

The African Wildcat Felis Silvestris lybica has the greatest range of wildcat species, covering much of Asia and the Middle East as well as Africa. Studies thus far demonstrate that this wildcat species is the ancestor of today’s domestic cat, besides local instances of tame small felines. For example, findings from a 5600-year-old settlement in North Western China suggest that a cat may have been fed by the local villagers, as a large amount of their staple crop of millet was found in its stomach. The species of the cat was later identified as a leopard cat Prionailurus bengalensis and was presented by Chinese scientists as the earliest domestication of the cat. Weighing this claim against the much earlier Cypriot example depends on how much the striking evidence of feeding the cat is valued over the earlier date. Regardless, the leopard cat’s taming appears to have been short lived, as the Chinese cat population is descended from the African wildcat, just like elsewhere. It’s postulated that after the opening of the Silk Road trade allowed purchase of our familiar cats, which were more desirable – likely because they were fully domesticated. This demonstrates the natural tendency towards homogenisation of pet species, as it takes so long for a domestication process to be completed without modern knowhow.

During the Neolithic, the same migration period which replaced much of the thinly spread hunter gathering populations in mainland Europe at the time over thousands of years, also spread the ancestors of the domestic cat deep into the continent – cat remains found in Poland date back as far as 5000 years. This was the same migration trend which replaced the population of the famous Cheddar Man of the UK – a member of the Mesolithic humans who previously occupied the area. This wave changed the culture and genetics of Europe, demonstrating the advantages of agriculture versus hunter-gathering on a macro level. Agriculture facilitated the blossoming population which drove the Aegean people to spread to the North and West, away from competition against other numerous farming societies. It also empowered the migrators in Europe, outcompeting the genes of hunter-gathering populations with sheer numbers.

If you love the mystique of Ancient Egypt to the point where you are something of an amateur Egyptologist, and/or previously enjoyed the thought they were the ones behind the modern kitty, do not be dismayed. Its certain that Ancient Egypt played an integral role in the story of the cat. The Nile valley is understood as a participant in the ‘Neolithic revolution’ at a similar time to the peoples of the Fertile Crescent. However, the mighty and distinctive Ancient Egyptian society which occupies a space in popular imagination did not arise until later on. The Sumer people who spoke

a language distinct from both Semitic and Indo-European forms developed a complex hierarchical and religious society. Generally described as the earliest known civilisation, they predate their own cuneiform script – straddling the timeline between prehistory and the beginnings of ‘ancient’ history. Written as the capital of the mythical hero Gilgamesh who defied the Gods, slayer of the Bull of Heaven and the giant ‘Humbaba’, their capital of Uruk is the oldest city thus far discovered, perhaps the first urban society of Earth.

About a thousand years after the founding of Uruk, Neolithic settlements along the Nile which were likely already somewhat economically and culturally unified, were formed into two opposing states by kings who controlled vast armies and slaves. Named after their relation to the flow of the Nile, the Upper Kingdom and Lower Kingdom (upstream and downstream) were likely highly advanced farming civilisations. Archaeological evidence exists of Neolithic Egyptian colonies or entrepôt in modern day Palestine, then the land of Canaan. Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt would eventually be united by the conquest of Narmer, who mixed the white vulture crown of his Upper Egypt with the red cobra crown of lower Egypt, forming the symbol of the Pharaoh – ruler of the Two Lands. This conquest, which begins the officiation history of Ancient Egypt as kept by their government, is definitive of the divine monarchy which would characterise the state for the next 3000 years, as well as the dualism which is woven into its culture and religion. Pharaohs’ standard titles included ‘of the Sedge and Bee’ symbolising Upper and Lower Egypt.

Paintings found within the great necropolis of Saqqara outside the Pharaohs’ capital Memphis depict a small cat with a collar on, which leads experts to believe that very tame cats were kept in Pharaohs quarters by at least the 2500s BC, about 600 years after the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt. It seems like the Nile civilisation became increasingly infatuated with cats from around this period. The goddess Bastet was originally depicted as a lioness, but increasingly took on the aspect of a domestic cat over time. She protected the common household just like a real cat protects the granary, while her alternate Sekhmet - the Lioness headed goddess – protected the Pharaoh. The city of Bubastis was sacred to Bastet, an archaeological hotspot for mummified cats. Today its ruins lie in the suburbs of Zagazig in Lower Egypt. The festival of Bastet was held in this city, which was observed by the ancient Greek historian Herodotus in the 400s BC. He claimed ‘more wine of the grape was drunk in those days than in all the rest of the year. Such was the manner of this festival: and, it is said, that as many as seven hundred thousand pilgrims have been known to celebrate the Feast of Bastet at the same time’ if this is true (depending on estimates you choose to believe) that meeting could be approaching 1% of the world’s population at the time!

Paintings also reflect a tightening of the relationship between cat and human in Egypt, with cats tucked under furniture like mine or yours. Curiously, a genetic study in 2004 demonstrated that a new gene pool of cats emerged at least 3000 years ago, testing mitochondrial DNA of cat mummies. Tracking other specimens, its demonstratable that this feline Nile population grew in size and spread at an incredible rate over the next periods of history. They spread to Europe via trade, and by the first millennium AD outnumbered the Fertile Crescent descended population on its ‘home turf’ in Western Turkey. Such a prevailing spread in regions which had already accessed cat type 1 point to a superior product. Today’s cats are a mix of both populations, plus wildcats of various regions, which domestic cats continue to breed with as they are essentially the same species.

Herodotus wrote that the Egyptians were the only people to keep animals in their houses. It seems hard to reject the idea that they had an affinity with animals… after all, their gods were all worshipped in animal form as well as human, demonstrating a oneness between mankind and the natural world. What’s more, the divine dynasties had aweinspiring material power at their disposal. This lead Carlos Driscoll of the World Wildlife Fund to conclude that they ‘supercharged the taming process’ with bigger and better methods of selective breeding, turning the cat from ‘tame’ to domesticated – a true pet. The Roman empire helped to spread the cat deeper into Europe, and its use in dealing with vermin on ships meant cats followed European naval empires of the modern period, making it one of today’s most invasive species. Despite this however, it may have been the Egyptians that solidified the cat as a future global species by making it snuggly and friendly. As demonstrated in China, trade links would have spread cats regardless. Perhaps you don’t believe the Egyptian pet theory – that populations could have spread because it was considered fashionable to own cats which were once worshipped in their land, or perhaps these cats had a different look. One thing is for certain, however. The cat, seamlessly arriving in time for the first urban human societies, is far more civilised than the primitive dog.

Composed by,

William Price, Undergraduate of History from the University of East Anglia