What does ancient Egyptian mythology say about cats?

Fittingly, a bust of Sakhmet is the first object that greets visitors as they enter “Divine Felines: Cats of Ancient Egypt,” an exhibition of Egyptian cat art opening October 14 at the Smithsonian's Arthur M. ... Known as a protector of children, Bes was, Catanzariti says, “a god that didn't have its own temple. read more

Cats are sacred and there was a cat-goddess Bastet. Probably cats became important because of large-scale storage of grain. read more

Cats (Felis silvestris catus), known in ancient Egypt as "Mau", were considered sacred in ancient Egyptian society. Based on recent DNA comparisons of living species, it has been estimated that cats were first domesticated from the Middle Eastern subspecies of the wildcat about 10,000 years ago in the Fertile Crescent. read more

The Egyptians did not distinguish between a wild cat and a domesticated cat; all cats were known as "miu" (or "miut") often translated as "he or she who mews". The origin of this name is not clear but it seems likely that it is an onomatopoetic reference to the sound a cat makes (mew). read more

It is thought that the ancient Egyptians learned that wild cats preyed on these scavengers and so began to leave out food (such as fish heads) to tempt the cats to visit them regularly. This suited the cats perfectly as being close to human settlements not only provided them with a ready supply of food (the vermin and the food left by humans) but also helped them to avoid larger predators. read more