How Cats Conquered the Ancient World
Domestic cats are descended from their wild relatives, this is no secret, but now scientists,
having carried out the most large-scale research of this kind, have made an important discovery: it turns out that the process of domestication of a cat that happened twice.
Apparently, the first cats were domesticated by farmers in the Middle East 9,000 years ago.
Then, thousands of years later, ancient Egyptian cats began traveling on ships with merchants to different countries.
Today, cats are found on every continent except Antarctica.
According to scientists, wild cats were attracted to human habitation by mice, which were found in abundance in grain barns. This marked the beginning of a long-term relationship between humans and felines.
Cats weren’t always the lazy, idle creatures we know them to be today.
For millennia, they worked as rat catchers on ships and on peasant farms before being fully domesticated.
The second wave of domestication already occurred in ancient Egypt. During the Roman Empire, cats spread throughout Europe, and then, already during the time of Viking rule, they moved even further.
Since then, for several hundred years, tabby cats have spread throughout the world, mainly because of their attractive color, not their commercial qualities.
It is curious that tabby cats only appeared in the Middle Ages.
Until the 19th century, breeding work with cats, unlike dogs, was practically not carried out. Cats were already beneficial, so there was no need to change anything.