"You used your hands to hold us to the throne of the gods, allowing us to witness your greatest glory from a high place. We have experienced the passage of time with you and moved to foreign lands together. To this day, we are still by your side."
has always been afraid of cats. When chatting with friends, he said that he especially dislikes cats, because cats give me the feeling of being gloomy and terrible, afraid of their sharp claws, afraid of their sudden appearance in secret places, and even more afraid of the miserable and creepy screams they make in the dark...
However, all this suddenly changed six years ago. I walked on the road and met two kittens as big as a palm within three months. Within my mind, I took them home and became a shoveler with two cats. I was inseparable from the cats, happily intoxicated by their charming beauty and mutual favor, and I didn't care about the troubles and hardships of taking care of them.
Many people, like me, have preconceived prejudice against cats without knowing about cats. This is actually not our fault. If you read the book "The Secret History of Cats", you will know why this prejudice occurs, and then you will know how cats capture people's hearts.
"The Secret History of Cats" is a masterpiece jointly completed by Barba and its owner Paul Kudnalis, a tabby cat living in the United States. It tells the footprints left by cats on the earth. It allows us to see the history of the cat empire for thousands of years, know how cats walked into human families from ancient jungles, and then spread all over the world. It also allows us to see the love, hate and affection between cats from the history of cats for thousands of years.
01. The origin of family cats :
"People and cats move from the smallest starting point to a peak beyond imagination."
When I was a child, I heard a story that cats are the tiger's master. This is actually not what people imagine. Archaeological evidence shows that "the big men are born from small men" seems to be a bit subverting our understanding, but that's the case. The evolutionary history of cats is a long time, and the time it accompanied humans began in ancient times.
domestic cat evolved from African wildcat ( Libyan cat ). During the Neolithic Age, humans in Mesopotamia have begun to engage in agricultural production and gradually established villages and towns. The large amount of food harvested was stored, which attracted the hateful rodents - rats. They acted quickly and quietly, not only stolen food but also wanted to destroy them. Humans could not destroy them, so they could only watch the mice rampant.
Fortunately, humans welcomed their unexpected friend - the African wildcat. Mouses are an important food source for African wild cats. The villages where humans gather will not have to worry about lacking this food at all. Another factor is that for their own safety, humans have to eliminate large mammal predators near villages or towns, thus providing a safe harbor for small predators such as wild cats.
There is plenty of food without worrying about hiding. The smart African wild cat stays in human territory with satisfaction from then on. In order to thank the wild cats for their efforts, humans will also take out some food to support them and try to keep them.
As time goes by, African wild cats slowly form a symbiotic relationship with humans. They are not domesticated by humans, but they choose to form an alliance with humans themselves.
02. The Golden Age of Cats
There is a motto for the Egyptians: "Don't laugh at a cat." People who violate this etiquette will bear serious consequences. Even if they are not whipped, they will at least be severely punished.
meandering through the desert of North Africa nurture ancient Egypt human civilization, and humans planted a large number of crops on the land irrigated by the Nile River. The little wild cats living on this land not only prey on mice that steal human food, but also prey on scorpions, poisonous snakes, etc. that hang in human settlements, and thus are loved and grateful to the ancient Egyptians.Under close attention, the ancient Egyptians discovered that these wild cats also had mysterious predictive abilities, and they could perceive natural phenomena such as weather changes and earthquakes in advance.
Although we now know that cats can predict these natural phenomena in advance because cats' sensory sensitivity is far greater than that of humans. For example, cats' hearing can reach 100,000 Hz, while humans can only reach 20,000 Hz, the ancient Egyptians did not know this. They thought cats had some kind of supernatural power, so they regarded cats as "gods" that could resist evil spirits. They built a temple for cats, presented cats to the altar, worshipped the cats' statues, and carved the cat's image on a talisman, hoping that this mysterious animal could protect their safety.
Over time, the legend about cats has evolved. The Egyptians associate cats with the magic goddess " Isis " in the Pantheon, because "Isis" is also " Goddess of Night ", and they appear in the dark night like cats; "Isis" is also the guardian of fertility and mothers, and cats have extremely high fertility rates, and female cats will closely protect the little cats born after a long time. The common characteristics between these two make the Egyptians regard cats as the spokesperson of the goddess "Isis" and become the guardian of the family.
From then on, cats not only entered and left human families at will, but also began to be associated with femininity. "A perfect woman is like a perfect cat." Even the famous Egyptian queen Cleo Batra believes this. She uses the facial patterns of her beloved cat to depict her eye makeup to add to her charm.
And the supreme status of a cat is given by the goddess Basteto, and she is a combination of cat and humans. In 1000 BC, the goddess Basteto, who had a cat-headed human body, became the most popular deity in ancient Egypt. The tall and magnificent Temple of Basteto stands in the center of the city, with cats everywhere in the temple. They wear valuable jewelry and enjoy the tributes sent by believers leisurely. This is the "golden age" in cat history.
At the same time, African wild cats also wandered to the Asian continent. They also fascinated the humans living here because of their outstanding mouse-catching ability and elegant demeanor. They have legendary stories left by them in China, in India, and in Japan...
03. Cats who came to the European continent fell from the altar to hell
House cats followed the merchant ship through Mediterranean and came to Greek . The Greeks named them, becoming the etymology of cats in modern English. The Greeks, conquered by this cute little creature, brought the domestic cat to the European continent with a show-off mentality, and then to the farther Nordic Europe where Viking robbers were infested. The Viking , which scared humans, was very pity for cats. They put down their blood-stained axe and gently stroked the furry kitten with their hands covered with calluses and scars. Cats have grown and taken root in the European continent.
Greeks and Romans inherited the "sacredness" of cats from the Egyptians and gave them corresponding gods, such as the Greek Moon and Hunting goddess Artemis, and the Romans Diana . Both goddesses have the ability to become cats, and are also guardians of family, protectors of happiness and defenders of fertility. Then, they connected the magic goddess Hecate with the cat with mysterious abilities. Hecate's priestess began to raise cats as their spiritual companions. Later, the " witch and cat" that made people feel terrified suddenly rose up.
By the end of the 4th century AD, Christians set off a storm to eradicate pagans in Europe. Greece and Roman goddesses who had been believed in for centuries by humans became "devils" in the mouths of Christians. Priestesses and cats who accompanied the goddesses were regarded as "spokesmen and accomplices of the devils", especially black cats. People at that time believed that they would attract evil fate and regarded them as "evil spirits".
Starting from the end of the 12th century AD, the priestesses and cats became the target of religious persecution, which lasted for 500 years.The priestesses were hunted by " Witch Hunting Operation ", and cats living on the European continent were also abused and killed inhumanely. The surviving cats could only hide everywhere in a vulgar way, surviving in the slit.
Ironically, the large-scale "cat killing campaign" of human beings has brought great disasters to themselves. The large number of cats disappeared, causing mice living in the gutter to reproduce rapidly. They not only destroyed food and supplies, but also spread diseases and plagues everywhere. The black rats landed in Europe with African merchant ships brought the plague virus. The virus was infected with humans through items gnawed by mice. The plague later called " Black Death " raged across the European continent, killing 25 million people within five years, reducing the population of the entire Europe by one third.
Cat returns to the world from the altar and falls into hell with people. The Middle Ages were the "dark age" for Europeans and the "dark age" for cats.
04. Cats and people enter an era of harmonious coexistence
With the advent of the Age of Discovery, cats were taken by sailors to ships leading to all over the world by sailors because of their excellent mouse-catching function. Cats not only capture mice on the boat to protect sailors' food, but they also play a greater role, such as helping humans guide navigation, playing games with lonely and boring sailors to relieve boredom, etc. History has also recorded the heroic deeds of many "ship cats".
Starting from the 17th century, the relationship between cats and humans on the European continent has also reversed. Louis XIII, the prime minister and cardinal , Richelieu had a special liking for cats. Under his guidance, cats became human darlings again. Writers began to write stories about cats, poets wrote hymns for cats, and noble ladies dressed up cats with precious clothes, and cats began to have differences in identity and status.
From then on, breed cats entered the clouds and enjoyed wealth and glory. Ordinary domestic cats were self-disciplined, either helped others catch mice or accompanied others. Only stray cats were still at the bottom of humbleness and were discriminated against and chased by others.
But overall, most cats still coexist in harmony with humans, especially in modern society. More and more cats are entering human families, and more and more people adopting stray cats are becoming increasingly popular. People who are truly caring treat cats equally, regardless of what breed they are or where they come from. For cats, this is their luck and their happiness.
Conclusion:
"In the process of creating history, all species have some force, or force of one claw or one hoof." This is what the tabby cat Barba wants to tell you. Human history is also the history of cats. Cats not only appear in human homes and streets, but also appear on battlefields, ships, and even cats enter space instead of humans. Cats exist in places where people are.
"There is great energy in a small body", don't underestimate the cat. They have accompanied humans for thousands of years, but they still proudly maintain their own personality. They remember the "ancestral teachings" that "cats chose humans, not humans domesticated cats."
For people, you just need to remember: "A cat will not give its feelings rashly. It will only be your friend when you deserve it. It will not be your slave. It will retain its own free will and will not do anything it seems unreasonable for you."
Seeing this, you who want to raise a cat should also know how to treat cats, right? #Telebrity Creation Challenge#
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