| Herodotus' anecdotes vs. modern genetics: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5790555/#:~:text=Ex... "But recent genetic and archaeological discoveries indicate that cat domestication began in the Fertile Crescent, perhaps around 10,000 years ago, when agriculture was getting under way." Edit in response to the comment below as i hit post-limit: As it happens, we owe to weasels too. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_depictions_of_cats#An... "Housecats seem to have been extremely rare among the ancient Greeks and Romans;[16] the Greek historian Herodotus expressed astonishment at the domestic cats in Egypt, because he had only ever seen wildcats.[16] Even during later times, weasels were far more commonly kept as pets[16] and weasels, not cats, were seen as the ideal rodent-killers" The main point still stands though. |