Classical Cats: The rise and fall of the

Domesticated cats were the bulwark of western societies' defense against rodents and the many diseases they carry, including typhus and the bubonic plague. Cats were also important religious symbols for the goddess Artemis of the Greeks, Diana of the Romans and the Greco-Egyptian goddess, Isis. In this beautifully illustrated book, Donald Engels traces the history and significance of the cat from ancient Egypt to the middle ages, exploring such phenomena as the worship of the Egyptian cat goddess Bastet, the infamous cat massacres and witch hunts of the eleventh century and their role in combatting disease and starvation.Classical Catspresents a unique and entertaining view of cat history.

Donald Engels is Associate Professor of History at the University of Arkansas.

List of illustrations
Preface
Acknowledgments
List of abbreviations
Introduction: The cat in history
Evolution, biology, and behavior
Types of domestic cat
Mice and rats
Egypt
The Libyan wildcat
The miu: the domesticated cat
Iconography
The goddess in the house: the sacred cats of Egypt
Egyptian cats from the fifth century B.C. through the Roman era, A.D. 330
Folklore
Cats in the Near East outside Egypt
Greece
The earliest Greek cats: c. 6000-500 B.C.
Cats of the classical and Hellenistic eras: 500-30 B.C.
The distribution of the cat by the end of the first century B.C.
Rome
The earliest Italian cats: 800-500 B.C.
Cats of the Roman Republic: 500-30 B.C.
Cats of the Imperial era: 30 B.C.-A.D. 500
The distribution of the cat by A.D. 500
The early Middle Ages: A.D. 500-1000
The Latin, Celtic, and Germanic West
The Byzantine East
The Muslim world
Epilogue: Persecution and redemption
The transformation of paganism: A.D. 1000-1700
The fate of Diana and her cat
The Black Death
The afterlife of the sacred cat
Renaissance and redemption
Portrayals of cats, cheetahs, and pantherines (lions, leopards) in Greek and Roman art
Cat remains from Greek and Roman archeological sites
The Vox in Rama of Gregory IX
Notes
Bibliography
Index
Table of Contents provided by Blackwell. All Rights Reserved.

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Classical Cats: The rise and fall of the sacred cat

Summary

Author Biography

Table of Contents

Supplemental Materials