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Close your eyes and imagine waking and being surrounded by the yummiest food on sparkly plates

and wearing shiny jewels and sitting on a cozy soft pillow for your image to be turned into a statue.

How cool does that sound? Awesome, right? Well, this was the reality for the ancient Egyptian cats

who used to be adored and respected,

not just for being amazing animals, but also as friends who kept Egyptian society safe from

bugs, snakes, and other scary things. What an amazing life those cats had.

Cats have been very important in Egyptian society for more than 3,000 years.

They weren't just treated as pets, they were considered as important as gods.

People thought they were symbols of things like fertility, having a fair and just society, and of course power for the whole country.

Cats were thought of as guardians of Egypt and were featured in art, which shows that they were

very involved in everyday life of the common men as well as the kings and queens.

They were treated specially because people spent a lot of time and money to mummify them and

bury them in special cat cemeteries. Even after they died, people drew their pictures and painted them on the tombs of their

owners. It's amazing how much cats were a part of everyone's life in ancient Egypt. However,

cats were not just important in ancient Egypt. They were also important in ancient Greece and

Rome as beloved pets. In those societies, cats were appreciated for their role in keeping

rats and mice under control. However, as time went on, their mice catching skills

weren't the only thing that cats were known for. Roman soldiers kept cats in forts, not only to

...