From Rat Catcher to Demi-god: The Rise and Rise of Cats in Ancient Egypt

Audio: Stephen O’Doherty speaks with Dr Linda Evans

When and where did the human love affair with the cat begin? Both Egypt and Cyprus have archaeological evidence of domesticated felines, but the current best theory is that the cat we know and love today, without whom social media would be so much the poorer, developed out of Egypt from as early as 3,000 BC!

Egyptologist Dr Linda Evans is a specialist in the relationship between humans and animals.

Dr Evans is is Senior Lecturer in the Department of Ancient History, and a member of the Ancient Cultures Research Centre at Macquarie University.

On Open House Dr Evans painted an evocative word picture of the tombs she has explored and recorded while taking us back thousands of years to the origins of the domestic cat.