Blame the Ancient Egyptians for All Those Street Cats

Even those who don't own a cat often encounter them: when taking out the trash, walking down the street, and sometimes—unexpectedly—even in their own homes. If you're among those who aren't thrilled with these feline meet-ups, Belgian researchers have found who you can blame. They say the ancient Egyptians are responsible for cats being everywhere—and they're not planning to leave anytime soon.

Claudio Ottoni and his team analyzed DNA from the bones, teeth, skin, and hair of more than 200 cats discovered at archaeological sites in the Middle East, Africa, and Europe. These findings date back several hundred to several thousand years. The genetic analysis revealed that all these cats—all domesticated—are descendants of the African wildcat that lived in the Middle East and North Africa. And who were the first to domesticate this wildcat? Farmers living in these regions. Researchers speculate that wildcats were drawn to Egyptian agricultural settlements because of the abundance of mice, and the farmers welcomed them as they helped eliminate the pests.

These agricultural settlements weren't solely in Egypt. So why blame the Egyptians specifically for the spread of cats worldwide?

Ottoni explains that Egypt was a global trade hub. When domesticated cats arrived from other locations, Egypt soon began sending them to all parts of the known world, as Egyptian ships insisted on taking cats aboard to catch the mice on board. In this way, cats reached large parts of Southwest Asia, Africa, and Europe. Bones of cats with Egyptian markings were even found at Viking sites along the Baltic Sea. After such widespread distribution, the fate of the cat was sealed: it became a common animal throughout the populated world—as it continues to be to this day.