From Egypt to the world: scientists find out how cats actually became domestic animals

New genetic research has shown that the path of the cat from wild predator to “pampered household pet” began much later and in a different region than previously assumed.

An analysis of DNA from feline bones found in archaeological excavations in Anatolia, Europe, and North Africa revealed that close relations between humans and cats formed only 3.5–4 thousand years ago — not in the Levant (the Eastern Mediterranean), but in North Africa, primarily in the sphere of influence of Ancient Egypt.

According to Oxford University professor Greger Larson, our familiar version of “10,000 years together” is not confirmed: the domestication of cats is a much later process. Researchers compared the DNA of ancient remains with the genetic “pool” of modern cats and concluded that it was in Egypt that wild cats began to live near humans and later gained a special status — they were venerated, depicted in art, and even mummified.

After that, cats spread around the world together with humans and ships, helping to control rodent populations. They arrived in Europe on a mass scale only about 2,000 years ago — mainly with the Romans, and later reached China via the Silk Road.

A separate interesting finding concerns China: long before domestic cats appeared there, wild leopard cats lived near humans. They lived for thousands of years near human settlements feeding on rodents, but were never domesticated. Today, the popular Bengal breed originated from their hybridisation with domestic cats.