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{{See also|Domestication of the cat|Cats in ancient Egypt}}
[[File:Tomb of Nakht (7).jpg|thumb|A cat eating a fish under a chair, a [[mural]] in an Egyptian tomb dating to the 15th century BC]]
It was long thought that the [[domestication of the cat]] began in [[ancient Egypt]], where cats were venerated from around 3100 BC.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Cat in ancient Egypt, illustrated from the collection of cat and other Egyptian figures formed |publisher=Cambridge University Press |last1=Langton |first1=N. |last2=Langton |first2=M. B. |date=1940}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=The Cat in Ancient Egypt |publisher=[[University of Pennsylvania Press]] |last=Malek |first=J. |date=1997 |edition=Revised |location=Philadelphia}}</ref> However, the earliest known indication for the [[taming]] of an African wildcat was [[Excavation (archaeology)|excavated]] close by a human [[Neolithic]] grave in [[Shillourokambos]], southern [[Cyprus]], dating to about 7500–7200 BC. Different evidence also suggest that cats were domesticated in the [[Near East]] 10,000 years ago.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Ottoni |first=Claudio |last2=Van Neer |first2=Wim |last3=De Cupere |first3=Bea |last4=Daligault |first4=Julien |last5=Guimaraes |first5=Silvia |last6=Peters |first6=Joris |last7=Spassov |first7=Nikolai |last8=Prendergast |first8=Mary E. |last9=Boivin |first9=Nicole |last10=Morales-Muñiz |first10=Arturo |last11=Bălăşescu |first11=Adrian |last12=Becker |first12=Cornelia |last13=Benecke |first13=Norbert |last14=Boroneant |first14=Adina |last15=Buitenhuis |first15=Hijlke |date=2017-06-19 |title=The palaeogenetics of cat dispersal in the ancient world |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-017-0139 |journal=Nature Ecology & Evolution |language=en |volume=1 |issue=7 |pages=1–7 |doi=10.1038/s41559-017-0139 |issn=2397-334X}}</ref> Since there is no evidence of native mammalian [[fauna]] on Cyprus, the inhabitants of this Neolithic village most likely brought the cat and other wild mammals to the island from the [[Middle East]]ern mainland.<ref name="Vigne_al2004">{{cite journal |last1=Vigne |first1=J. D. |last2=Guilaine |first2=J. |last3=Debue |first3=K. |last4=Haye |first4=L. |last5=Gérard |first5=P. |s2cid=28294367 |title=Early taming of the cat in Cyprus |journal=[[Science (journal)|Science]] |volume=304 |issue=5668 |page=259 |date=2004 |pmid=15073370 |doi=10.1126/science.1095335}}</ref> Scientists therefore assume that African wildcats were attracted to early human settlements in the [[Fertile Crescent]] by rodents, in particular the [[house mouse]] (''Mus musculus''), and were tamed by Neolithic farmers. This [[Mutualism (biology)|mutual]] relationship between early farmers and tamed cats lasted thousands of years. As [[agricultural practices]] spread, so did tame and domesticated cats.<ref name="DriscollMenotti-Raymond2007">{{Cite journal |title=The Near Eastern Origin of Cat Domestication |last1=Driscoll |first1=C. A. |last2=Menotti-Raymond |first2=M. |last3=Roca '|first3=A. L. |last4=Hupe |first4=K. |last5=Johnson |first5=W. E. |last6=Geffen |first6=E. |last7=Harley |first7=E. H. |last8=Delibes |first8=M. |last9=Pontier |first9=D. |last10=Kitchener |first10=A. C. |last11=Yamaguchi |first11=N. |last12=O'Brien |first12=S. J. |last13=Macdonald |first13=D. W. |journal=[[Science (journal)|Science]] |date=2007 |volume=317 |issue=5837 |pages=519–523 |pmid=17600185 |pmc=5612713 |doi=10.1126/science.1139518 |oclc=808298830 |bibcode=2007Sci...317..519D}}</ref><ref name="Driscoll_al2009">{{cite journal |last1=Driscoll |first1=C. A. |last2=Clutton-Brock |first2=J. |last3=Kitchener |first3=A. C. |last4=O'Brien |first4=S. J. |date=2009 |title=The taming of the cat |journal=Scientific American |volume=300 |issue=6 |pages=68–75 |doi=10.1038/scientificamerican0609-68 |doi-broken-date=19 June 2024 |pmid=19485091 |pmc=5790555 |bibcode=2009SciAm.300f..68D |jstor=26001382}}</ref> Wildcats of Egypt contributed to the maternal [[gene pool]] of the domestic cat at a later time.<ref name="OttoniVan Neer2017">{{cite journal |last1=Ottoni |first1=C. |last2=van Neer |first2=W. |last3=de Cupere |first3=B. |last4=Daligault |first4=J. |last5=Guimaraes |first5=S. |last6=Peters |first6=J. |last7=Spassov |first7=N. |last8=Prendergast |first8=M. E. |last9=Boivin |first9=N. |last10=Morales-Muñiz |first10=A. |last11=Bălăşescu |first11=A. |last12=Becker |first12=C. |last13=Benecke |first13=N. |last14=Boroneant |first14=A. |last15=Buitenhuis |first15=H. |last16=Chahoud |first16=J. |last17=Crowther |first17=A. |last18=Llorente |first18=L. |last19=Manaseryan |first19=N. |last20=Monchot |first20=H. |last21=Onar |first21=V. |last22=Osypińska |first22=M. |last23=Putelat |first23=O. |last24=Quintana Morales |first24=E.M. |last25=Studer |first25=J. |last26=Wierer |first26=U. |last27=Decorte |first27=R. |last28=Grange |first28=T. |last29=Geigl |first29=E. |s2cid=44041769 |title=The palaeogenetics of cat dispersal in the ancient world |journal=Nature Ecology & Evolution |volume=1 |issue=7 |date=2017 |page=0139 |doi=10.1038/s41559-017-0139 |bibcode=2017NatEE...1..139O |url= https://research.rug.nl/en/publications/the-paleogenetics-of-cat-dispersal-in-the-ancient-world(04942e78-fa48-4700-ad97-29fcdf9077a1).html |access-date=18 October 2021 |archive-date=7 March 2022 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20220307214831/https://research.rug.nl/en/publications/the-paleogenetics-of-cat-dispersal-in-the-ancient-world |url-status=live}}</ref>
The earliest known evidence for the occurrence of the domestic cat in [[Greece]] dates to around 1200 BC. Greek, [[Phoenicia]]n, [[Carthaginia]]n and [[Etrusca]]n traders introduced domestic cats to southern Europe.<ref name=Faure2009>{{cite journal |last1=Faure |first1=E. |last2=Kitchener |first2=A. C. |date=2009 |title=An archaeological and historical review of the relationships between Felids and people |journal=Anthrozoös |volume=22 |issue=3 |page=221−238 |doi=10.2752/175303709X457577|s2cid=84308532}}</ref> By the 5th century BC, they were familiar animals around settlements in [[Magna Graecia]] and [[Etruria]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Ragni |first1=B. |last2=Possenti |first2=M. |last3=Sforzi |first3=A. |last4=Zavalloni |first4=D. |last5=Ciani |first5=F. |date=1994 |title=The wildcat in central-northern Italian peninsula: a biogeographical dilemma |journal=Biogeographia |volume=17 |issue=1 |doi=10.21426/B617110417 |url= https://cloudfront.escholarship.org/dist/prd/content/qt1dz6x5xf/qt1dz6x5xf.pdf |doi-access=free |access-date=29 August 2019 |archive-date=26 July 2018 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20180726121432/https://cloudfront.escholarship.org/dist/prd/content/qt1dz6x5xf/qt1dz6x5xf.pdf |url-status=live}}</ref> During the [[Roman Empire]], they were introduced to [[Corsica]] and [[Sardinia]] before the beginning of the 1st century AD.<ref name=Vigne1992>{{cite journal |last1=Vigne |first1=J.-D. |title=Zooarchaeology and the biogeographical history of the mammals of Corsica and Sardinia since the last ice age |date=1992 |journal=Mammal Review |volume=22 |issue=2 |pages=87–96 |doi=10.1111/j.1365-2907.1992.tb00124.x}}</ref> By the end of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century, the Egyptian domestic cat lineage had arrived in a [[Baltic Sea]] port in northern [[Germany]].<ref name="OttoniVan Neer2017" />
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