Egyptian cats are some of the oldest cat breeds in the world. Cats were first kept as pets in Egypt and the Middle East. Wild cats in Egypt became house cats around 1500 BC.
History and Cultural Significance of Egyptian Cat Breeds
Cats lived in ancient Egypt over 3,000 years ago. They helped Egyptians by catching mice and snakes that threatened food supplies and homes.
Egyptians thought cats were holy and special. They treated cats like royalty, giving them jewelry and gold decorations. When cats died, Egyptians wrapped them like mummies and buried them in special graves. Many Egyptian art pieces show Bastet, a cat goddess they worshipped.
Egyptian Cat Breeds
While many people believe certain cat breeds come from ancient Egypt, only a few modern cats can actually be traced back there. Let’s look at two cat breeds that really did start in Egypt and three others that people wrongly think are Egyptian.
Egyptian Mau
The Egyptian Mau cat’s exact history is unclear, but it likely came from ancient Egyptian street cats. Old Egyptian art shows spotted cats that look just like today’s Egyptian maus, with the same eye markings and stripes. The cats first came to America in 1956 when Princess Nathalie Troubetskoy, who left Russia, brought her Egyptian maus with her.
Street cats in Egypt are now known as Nile Valley Egyptian Cats, and many look similar to Egyptian maus.
The Bengal cat breed was created in part by breeding with Egyptian maus.
Breed Overview
WEIGHT: 6 to 14 pounds
LENGTH: Up to 16 inches
PERSONALITY: Playful, active, devoted, loyal, alert, affectionate on their terms
COAT LENGTH: Medium-length shorthair
COAT COLOR: The fur has silver, bronze, or smoky coloring with dark spots of different sizes only at the tips. A dark stripe runs along the back and continues down the tail to its dark end. The cat has an “M” shape on its forehead and dark lines that look like mascara, starting at the eyes and curving along the cheeks.
EYE COLOR: Green
LIFESPAN: 12 to 15 years
Chausie
The chausie (chow-see) is a medium to large cat breed made by mixing house cats with jungle cats, a wild species once worshipped in ancient Egypt.
While chausies were first bred in America in the 1990s, their wild ancestors came from Egypt. Breeders used Abyssinian cats and regular shorthaired house cats to create the breed.
Breed Overview
Weight: About 15 to 25 pounds
Length: About 20 to 22 inches
Personality: Friendly, playful, active, affectionate
Coat Length: Short to medium, with a dense, soft undercoat and a somewhat resilient, slightly coarser outer coat
Coat Color: Brown ticked tabby, black grizzled ticked tabby or black
Eye Color: Any color, including blue or odd-eyed
Life Expectancy: 15 to 20 years
Abyssinian
The Abyssinian is a small cat with short hair and is one of the oldest known cat breeds. Many people think these cats came from Egypt or Ethiopia (once called Abyssinia) because they look like cats shown in ancient Egyptian art. However, new DNA studies show they likely came from areas near the Indian Ocean and Southeast Asia.
The cats got their name in the 1800s when British cat lovers brought similar-looking cats to England and showed them at cat shows, claiming they came from Abyssinia.
Breed Overview
WEIGHT: Up to 12 pounds
LENGTH: Up to 28 inches
PERSONALITY: Friendly, interactive, animated, active, and playful
COAT LENGTH: Short hair
COAT COLOR: Solid or ticked; ruddy, red, blue, cinnamon, or fawn
EYE COLOR: Green or gold
LIFESPAN: Up to 15 years
Savannah
Savannah cats have spots that look like ancient Egyptian cats, but they were created in America in the 1980s by breeding wild African servals with house cats. Like servals, Savannah cats are tall and thin with long necks, big ears, and beautiful spotted fur. These cats need lots of exercise and playtime to stay happy, so make sure you can give them enough attention before getting one.
Breed Overview
WEIGHT: 12 to 25 pounds
LENGTH: 20 to 22 inches
PERSONALITY: Affectionate and social with owners, pets, and older children; intelligent and trainable
COAT LENGTH: Short to medium hair
COAT COLOR: Tawny, black/brown spotted tabby, black/silver spotted tabby, or black smoke with a solid or tabby pattern
EYE COLOR: Amber or green
LIFESPAN: Up to 20 years
Sphynx
People often believe Sphynx cats are from Egypt because they look like cats in Egyptian art. Some also mix them up with the sphinx – a mythical creature with a human head, lion’s body, and eagle wings. The Egyptians built many sphinx statues, including the Great Sphinx of Giza, to protect their royalty.
However, Sphynx cats come from Canada. These hairless cats have soft, wrinkled skin that feels like suede. While they don’t need brushing since they don’t have fur to shed, they need regular baths to clean their skin and keep it healthy.
Breed Overview
WEIGHT: Less than 12 pounds
LENGTH: 13 to 15 inches, head to tail
PERSONALITY: Playful, affectionate, friendly, energetic, and loving
COAT LENGTH: Nearly hairless, peach fuzz
COAT COLOR: Any color, including white, black, red, brown, white, and lilac
EYE COLOR: Any color
LIFESPAN: 8 to 14 years
More Cat Breeds and Further Research
To explore more cat breeds, check out:
- 15 Best American Cat Breeds
- 14 Top Cat Breeds from Asia
- 10 Best British Cat Breeds
