Historic Cats: A 9,500 Year Old Pet Memorial

by Kristin Gabriel

Cherished as our companions, worshipped as idols, and used for pest control and good luck, cats are more than 9,500 years old. It's been estimated that there are more than 90 million domestic cats in the U.S.

According to an April 8, 2004 article in National Geographic magazine, French archaeologists found the carefully interred remains of a human and a cat memorial buried in a 9,500-year-old grave site on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus.

Many people pay tribute and honor their beloved cats upon their passing, according to Peternity.com Founder Colleen Mihelich. Her company offers hand crafted, cremation pet urns, grave markers and engraved pet memorials for cat-lovers who have lost a beloved pet.

Cat domestication appears to be ancient. Many experts believe that the Egyptians tamed and bred felines to produce a distinct species by around the 20th century B.C.

Ancient Egyptians Cats were revered by ancient Egyptians more than in any culture in history. Because they were so respected, cats were often mummified and buried in tombs along with their human owners.Back then it was also considered a high crime to kill a cat, and it was punishable by death. Families that owned cats made shrue their felines were respected long after their death. If a pet cat died, the family would go through a period of grief, shaving their eyebrows to mark their sadness. Cats were often mummified after they died and then entombed with fine jewelry and treasures; a custom that was reserved for the most wealth and powerful. There is also evidence of mummified rats and mice in tombs. All of this signals that the Egyptians believed in life after death.

Bast, the Egyptian Goddess with the body of a young woman and the head of a cat. (The Book of the Dead, 3000 B.C.)

In ancient times, the cat, or miw, which means "to see," was a sacred companion. Domesticated Egyptian cats were used for warding off rodents and even snakes. As time went by cats became more important to the Egyptians, and almost like a God. Cats were represented in Egyptian mythology as the feline goddesses with the names Bastet, Sekhmet. In early times Bast, also written as 'Bastet' by the scribes, was a goddess that was shown as a woman with the head of a cat or lion.

According to an April 8, 2004 article in National Geographic magazine, French archaeologists found the carefully interred remains of a human and a cat memorial buried in a 9,500-year-old grave site on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus. Unearthed in 2001 in the Neolithic village of Shillourokambos, the mummified remains were found along with seashells, polished stones and offerings such as ochre and flint tools, axes, and other decorative artifacts. This find predates the known early Egyptian art that depicted cats by 4,000 years or more.

Archaeologist Jean-Denis Vigne of the National Museum of Natural History in Paris said that human and pet cat burials indicates a strong association between the human and cat and that the feline is possibly the world's oldest known pet cat.

Other researchers have found hints that cats were domesticated even earlier than this, with experts who have found 10,000-year-old engravings and pottery depicting cats that actually date back as far as Neolithic period, or the late Stone Age, which also provides evidence that cats had a spiritual significance.

The world today is still fascinated with cats, and why pet memorials are growing in significance. Mihelich and her Peternity team are always on the lookout for unique, handcrafted pieces of art to help her customers express their love, joy and memories of beloved cats, and other pets who have passed on.