ancientegypt

Cats feature in ancient Egyptian art. It reflects the cat's unique status among people who lived along the Nile River.

Cats were first seen as beneficial predators but later became symbols of divinity and protection. While ancient Egyptians did not worship animals, they did see them as representations of divine aspects of their gods.

Nefertiti is a most recognised figure from ancient Egypt thanks to the 1912 discovery of her remarkable bust.

• She was the wife of pharaoh Akhenaten and was possibly a first cousin of the king.
• During her period as Akhenaten's wife, she was depicted smiting Egypt's enemies, something unique to her.
• Nefertiti survived her husband as a fully-fledged female pharaoh.

Cats and humans have enjoyed a mostly symbiotic relationship for thousands of years. When and where cats first became domesticated has been a riddle for scientists.

• Some clues first came from the island of Cyprus in 1983, when archaeologists found a cat's jawbone dating back 8,000 years.
• In 2004, an older site in Cyprus was unearthed where a cat had been deliberately buried with a human. This made it more certain that the island's ancient cats were domesticated.
• In 2007, authors of a study declared that cats were first domesticated in the Near East about 12,000 years ago and that they descended from a Middle Eastern wildcat, Felis sylvestris, which means "cat of the woods."