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→Rise of Cat Pets
The earliest evidence of close contact between humans and cats comes from Cyprus from 7500 BC, where a human was found buried next to a cat. In ancient Egypt, by around 2000 BC, we find the first cat cemetery with mummified cats and tomb paintings showing cats. In fact, something on the order of 80,000 mummified cats have been found in the cemetery, making it still by far the largest known cat cemetery. The goddess Bastet was depicted as a cat and the association of cats with this goddess may have made cats sacred. However, from tomb paintings, it is also clear that the Egyptians had an affinity and care for the cats, suggesting that cats by then were now more intertwined with daily life and people actively took care of cats.
One hypothesis is that cats, even in the wild, act docile to humans and sometimes even act playful. This suggests that the natural nature of cats could have led them to being invited to people's homes as their presence in agricultural villages and towns became more established.
==Recent Developments==
