Gayer Anderson Cat

In Ancient Egypt it was believed that most deities were able to take the form of a sacred animal in order to appear on earth. Amun might disguise himself as a goose or a ram, Horus as a falcon. Not all members of a species were considered sacred,only those lucky enough to be chosen to live in a temple as the god's representative were revered. The only animal which the Egyptians seem to have held in total respect whether it was a pet or kept in a temple was the cat. All Egyptian cats weredescended from the wild Libyan desert cat with long legs, sharply pointed ears and brindled fur which is often depicted in Book of the Dead papyrus vignettes cutting up the evil serpent Apophis. The Greek historian Herodotus reported that in his time(about 450 BC) when a house caught fire the first thing to be saved was the house cat and that whole families went into mourning when their pet died. Small but elaborate coffins were made especially for the mummified remains of a favourite pet.