# data[].attributes.body
The Egyptians did not revere and worship the cats themselves, rather they saw them as holy vessels that the gods could choose to inhabit if they wished. Killing a cat in Egypt was often punishable by death.

# data[].attributes.body
Above is a mummified and laiter x-rayed Egyptian cat on display in Carnegie Museum of Natural History’s Walton Hall of Ancient Egypt. Mummified cats were often used as funerary goods, as the Egyptians believed that a the deceased laid next to a mummified cat could inhabit the cat's body in the afterlife. They also believed that they could pray to the goddess Sekhmet by whispering their prayers into the ear of the mummified cat and then offering the cat to Sekhmet. They believed that Sekhmet had a cure for every problem, and that these mummified cats were a direct connection to her.

# data[].attributes.body
A relief of the goddess Bastet. Through her earliest appearance up until the Egyptian new kingdom, Bastet was depicted solely as a lioness, but after many subtle changes in Egypt over the centuries, Bastet began to be shown as a cat rather than a lion.
Bastet is the most well known goddess of cats. In mythology, she would stay at the sun god Ra's side as his loyal protector, fighting off the snake Apophis (Apep) for eternity to keep Ra safe. Characterized with Sekhmet as two parts of the same goddess, Bastet was a calmer and more reasonable person. She was more worshiped in Lower Egypt. Bastet was the goddess of protection, pleasure, and the bringer of good health. Her most common appearance would depict a slender female figure with the head of a domesticated house cat.

# data[].attributes.body
Sekhmet. The Lady of Slaughter, the Powerful One, the Eye of the Sun. She is the goddess of the hot desert sun, plague, chaos, war, and healing. Usually depicted as a woman with the head of a lion, it is believed that Ra created her as a weapon to destroy humans for their disobedience to him and the principles of Ma'at. Characterized with Bastet as two parts of the same goddess, Sekhmet was a terrifying goddess who would lead the Pharaoh and his armies into battle. To those she deemed as friends, and to those who worshiped her however, she would avert plague and kill disease within those. Ancient Egyptians were determined to stay on her good side, and for good reason!

# data[].attributes.body
A much lesser known Egyptian cat deity was Madfet, and she's been around much longer than both Bastet and Sekhmet. The ancient Egyptians called her "Lady of the House of Life", "Slayer of Serpents", and "The Great Cat." She is usually depicted as a woman with the head of a leopard or a lynx. She would keep you safe from venomous serpents and scorpions, and heal you from their venomous bites, but if you strayed from righteousness, she would rip your heart out with her claws and deliver it to the Pharaoh like a dutiful cat would bring it's owner prey.
Leopard skins and heads were seen as important symbols of power. Thus, many priests and other clergy members in ancient Egypt would wear leopard skin capes and heads. On top of that, the Pharaoh themselves would also wear leopard skins.

# data[].attributes.body
This image of a cat hunting birds while the humans are fishing and fowling shows how useful cats were in Egyptian society, as they would kill birds, snakes, scorpions, and other small animals for their masters. In the tomb this painting was found in the cat's eye was adorned with a gold leaf, the only place in the tomb that gold was used to adorn the walls.

# data[].attributes.body
This cat sitting under a woman's chair implies a connection between ancient Egyptian cats and women. Among other things, cats were believed to be symbols of fertility, as they had so many kittens in one litter.

# data[].attributes.body
The worship of cats in Egypt is important to understand Egyptian history because cats revolved around some of the most famous religions of the time. After all, as religion is often what drives the people of a country, understanding the religion leads to far better understanding the people.

# data[].attributes.body
The goddess Bastet's dual nature as a lion and a cat was best shown in her merging with another famous lion goddess, Sekhmet. The loyalist teaching of the 12th dynasty describes an ideal king as, "He is Bastet who protects the two lands. He who worships him will be protected by his arm. He is Sekhmet against he who transgresses his order. The one he hates will be under distress." As time went on, priests started to focus less on the lioness side of Bastet, portraying her more as the kindlier cat form than the lion.

# data[].attributes.body
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1xX5jpvDKeTbyCQv7PKEsEM6BZxPLN02Y0Dh_axijIM4/edit