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It was illegal to slay cats in ancient Egypt, in large part because they provided the great service of controlling the rat population.

Phoenician cargo ships are thought to have brought the first domesticated cats to Europe in about 900 BC.

Evidence suggests domesticated cats have been around since 3600 B.C., 2,000 years before Egypt's pharaohs.

One legend claims that cats were created when a lion on Noah's Ark sneezed and two kittens came out.