Cats were a revered animal in Egypt. Egypt had a cat goddess, Bast or Bastet, and all cats themselves were considered demigods. Cats lived pretty cushy lives, better so than many of the people of Egypt themselves.
Egypt's original use of cats was to keep the royal granaries and such of Egypt vermin free. The cat's job itself was not so simple; the vermin bred quite rapidly and ate like kings in the mountains of grain. The Pharaoh realized that he needed all the cats he could get, and being a king-god himself he made the cats demigods. …
