The domestic cat; bird ... The domestic cat; bird killer, mouser and destroyer of wild life; means of utilizing and controlling it domesticcatbirdk00forb Year: 1916 12 the burning building and neglected to quench the fire. In spite of all this tender solicitude some cats escaped and cast them- selves into the flames, amid the wild lamentations of the be- reaved and horrified Egyptians. All members of any family bereaved by the death of a cat had their eyebrows shaved off, and the sacred animal was embalmed and then buried at Bubastis. No Egyptian dared run the risk of injuring a cat. There i
The domestic cat; bird ... The domestic cat; bird killer, mouser and destroyer of wild life; means of utilizing and controlling it domesticcatbirdk00forb Year: 1916 12 the burning building and neglected to quench the fire. In spite of all this tender solicitude some cats escaped and cast them- selves into the flames, amid the wild lamentations of the be- reaved and horrified Egyptians. All members of any family bereaved by the death of a cat had their eyebrows shaved off, and the sacred animal was embalmed and then buried at Bubastis. No Egyptian dared run the risk of injuring a cat. There is a tradition repeated by the old historians regarding Cambyses, the Persian king, who attempted to take the town of Pelusium but was beaten back by the Egyptians. The tale runs that he then gave living cats to the soldiers in Bronze statuette of the the front ranks of his army, which they used as cat of Bubastia. shields, and the Egyptians retired and gave up the town without striking a blow. Diodorus says that a Roman who killed a cat by accident in Thebes was almost torn to pieces by the infuriated populace. The exportation of cats was prohibited. An Egyptian com- mission searched the Mediterranean countries to buy and bring back, if possible, every cat which had been taken out of Egypt. The temples of Bubastis, Beni Hassan and Heliopolis were sacred retreats of the deified animal, but that of Bubastis was the 'fairest in all Egypt.' There the sacred cats were robed, pampered and worshipped during life. There their necks and ears were hung with jewels and ornaments of gold. There they 'drowsed and played in the shadows of mighty temples,' and there their remains were tenderly and reverently preserved after death. Mummies of cats that had lived in the temple of the Goddess Pasht at Bubastis were greatly venerated by the people, and their tombs contained great numbers of gold ornaments bearing the same letters as those found in the mausoleums of Egyptian kings. Cat mummies wer
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