Herodotus tells us how if a fire broke out in an Egyptian house, the inhabitants protected their domesticated cats by making a human chain, shielding them at all costs rather than flee or quenching the engulfing flames. Yet the panicked cats slipped through jumping into the fire. 
This cat custom in Ancient Egypt
appears in Herodotus' Histories Bk. II.66.3
Cat statuette intended to contain a mummified cat, bronze 332–30 BC.[1]
appears in Herodotus' Histories Bk. II.66.3
Cat statuette intended to contain a mummified cat, bronze 332–30 BC.[1]
Herodotus also tells us that when a cat has died a natural death, the house inhabitants shaved their eyebrows.
Cats were first domesticated by Egyptians in the Middle Kingdom for their mouse-hunting abilities. By New Kingdom times they had also become household companions [2]
Cats were first domesticated by Egyptians in the Middle Kingdom for their mouse-hunting abilities. By New Kingdom times they had also become household companions [2]
In Bastet's honor, mummified cats, sometimes in bronze or wooden cases were donated at her temples, like the ones located in Bubastis and Saqqara. The mummies were then buried within her temple precincts.
Cat wood sarcophagus intended to contain a mummified cat, Ptolemaic era.
Cat wood sarcophagus intended to contain a mummified cat, Ptolemaic era.
For Egyptians, the goddesses Bastet and Sakhmet were two aspects of divine power. Sakhmet, the lioness, represented dangerous, potentially destructive forces. Bastet, the feline of the house, incorporated the benevolent aspects of a deity that could be pacified by rituals. [1]
Exquisite cat head votive relief, carved with an almost three-dimensional quality. She wears a necklace of cowrie shells, symbols of fertility, and a pendant in the form of the eye of Horus. Made of limestone, Ptolemaic Dynasty 305–30 BC. @mfaboston
