Cats known in Ancient Egypt as the miw played a large role in olden Egyptian society. Beginning as a wild, untamed species, cats were useful for keeping down rats populations in the Egyptians' crops and harvests; through exposure to humans, the cat population became domesticated over time and learned to coexist with the human population. The people inhabiting the area which would later become unified and known as Upper and Lower Egypt had a religion centering on the worship of animals, of which the cat became one.

Originally praised for its aid to humans in controlling rats and its ability to fight and kill snakes, the domesticated cat slowly became a symbol of grace and poise. The goddess Mafdet, the deification of justice and execution, was a fierce lion-headed goddess. The cat goddess Bast finally replaced the cult of Mafdet, and Bast's image softened over time and she became the deity representing protection, fertility, and motherhood.

As a revered animal and one very important to Egyptian society and religion, the cat was afforded the same mummification after death as humans. Mummified cats were given in offering to Bast; in 1888, an Egyptian farmer accidentally uncovered a large tomb containing tens of thousands of mummified cats and kittens. This discovery outside the town of Beni Hasan contained around eighty thousand cat mummies, dating back to 1000-2000 BC.