Cat: Did you mean...?

The Second Dynasty of Egypt (c. 2890 - c. 2670 BCE) rose from the turmoil which ended the first and was marked by uprisings (or, at least, internal difficulties) throughout. The precise cause of this civil unrest is unclear as sources for...

Teishebaini (aka Tesebaini, modern Karmir-Blur, near Yerevan, Armenia) was an important fortress city of the Urartu civilization and excavations at the site, largely undisturbed since its abandonment c. 590 BCE, have provided an invaluable...

The history of mankind is interwoven with the domestication of animals. Dogs may have been domesticated in prehistoric Europe perhaps as long as 36,000 years ago. The first cats are thought to have been domesticated in Egypt, while the invention...

Ancient Persian culture exerted a powerful influence throughout the Near East, and beyond, for over a thousand years between c. 550 BCE - 651 CE and many aspects of their culture continued to influence others afterwards and up through the...

The Achaemenid Empire (c. 550-330 BCE) was the first great Persian political entity in Western and Central Asia which stretched, at its peak, from Asia Minor to the Indus Valley and Mesopotamia through Egypt. It was founded by Cyrus II (the...

Egypt's Early Dynastic Period (3150-2613 BCE) lay the foundation of what would become one of the most impressive civilizations of the ancient world. The kings of this era, except for Narmer and Djoser, are often overlooked but were responsible...

A collection of Egyptian Bastet and Sekhmet figurines illustrating the importance of cat iconography in Egyptian culture. Ashmolean Museum, Oxford.

Close-up of a red-figure vase painting depicting a music lesson. In this section, two men play music while a boy and cat (alternately identified as a young panther) sit on the side. Attributed to "The Agrigento Painter". Produced in Attica...

The Cat of Bubastes: A Tale of Ancient Egypt was written by history novelist G. A. Henty and originally published in 1888 CE. Though the book was meant for people of a high school reading level, it is a rather sophisticated work of literature...

Artist's impression of the Battle of Pelusium (525 BCE), showing the Persian army led by Cambyses II (525-522 BCE) on the left, and the Egyptian army led by Psametik III (526-525 BCE) on the right. The battle was a decisive Persian victory...