Let’s face it, a LOT of occultists are cat lovers for a wide variety of (very sound!) reasons. Last month, Science published a paper discussing the origins of the domestic house cat. The Introduction reads:
The domestic cat (Felis catus) originated from the African wildcat (Felis lybica lybica), which is presently distributed across North Africa and the Near East. It has since rapidly expanded to achieve a global distribution. Archaeozoological and iconographic evidence points to two possible centers of domestication: Neolithic Levant ~9500 years ago and Pharaonic Egypt ~3500 years ago. Ancient mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) data support a dual-origin model for cat dispersal, indicating an initial spread from Anatolia to Europe by Neolithic farmers ~6400 years ago, followed by a second wave from Egypt ~2000 years ago.
Read the whole paper: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adt2642
Thanks to Sister Amy for the tip!
