We all think of ancient Egypt as one of the most powerful empires known to the pre-Christian world, so how could anyone believe that its great army could have been defeated by a pack of cats?
And yet... This great military defeat may not have happened exactly like that, but it is not far from the truth. According to the World History Encyclopedia, our history begins around 500 BC. During those years, the Egyptian empire was in decline. It may still have remained an important regional power, but it was certainly not as powerful as it had been during its glory days, under Pharaohs such as Tutankhamun and Ramses.
In fact, during the 6th century BC, Egypt suffered a series of devastating defeats at the hands of the Assyrian army, but managed to push them back to a point.
Seeing Egypt's weakened state, the Achaemenid Empire - better known as the Persian Empire, centered in modern Iran - decided it was time to make its move as well. According to Herodotus, tensions between Egypt and Persia reached a breaking point when Amasis II, the ruler of Egypt, refused to give his daughter as a wife to Cambyses II, the ruler of Persia. Cambyses, of course, would have struck Egypt anyway, but insulting the Pharaoh provided him with the appropriate excuse.
So, while Cambyses was gathering his forces, the Pharaoh died, leaving Egypt under the control of his son, Psammitichus III. Despite the fact that the new pharaoh was militarily and politically inexperienced, he did his best to gather a significant military force and repel the Persian invaders at the northern Nile city of Pelusium in 525 BC.
Before we see if he succeeded in the end - to which you probably already understood the answer - we should make a small parenthesis to explain something.
The ancient Egyptians loved cats more than anything
Basically, they didn't just love these lovable fluffballs, but all animals. That is why the Egyptians were mainly vegetarians. But cats had a special place in their hearts also because of their association with the goddess Bastet, who was depicted with a cat's head (and sometimes a cat's body).
Bastet was the goddess of "the home, domestic life, women's secrets, cats, fertility and childbirth" and was one of the most revered deities of ancient Egypt.
Bastet was protective, but at the same time ruthless when it came to exacting revenge. Therefore, the Egyptians treated cats with the utmost respect, for fear of her wrath. Herodotus himself relates that the Egyptians often put themselves in danger to save cats from house fires, and there are many cases of cats being mummified, with jewels and ornaments fit for a real Pharaoh.
And what was the greatest proof of ancient Egypt's love for cats? The fact that the penalty for killing a cat was death.
The Persians used this love as a military advantage
As Pharaoh Psammetichus prepared to defend Egypt from the advancing Persian forces, the Persian army did something completely unexpected. According to the World History Encyclopedia, the best—and possibly exaggerated—account of the battle comes from Polynaeus, another Greek writer.
So according to him, the Persian leader Cambyses II ordered the shields of each of his soldiers to be painted with the image of the goddess Bastet. He then ordered his men to march into battle carrying (or following behind) a variety of Egypt's most beloved animals:dogs, sheep, and, most notably, cats.
So what the Egyptian defenders faced was nothing more than an invasion of cats, the living ones flanked by images of their cat-goddess Bastet. Naturally, the Egyptians were afraid to fight back, as firing a single arrow from them would endanger the life of a cat and incur the wrath of Bastet. So most decided to desert and run away rather than stay and fight.
The Persian tactic was crowned with complete success. Nearly 50,000 Egyptians lost their lives at the Battle of Pelusium, compared to only 7,000 Persians. The Persians captured Pharaoh and occupied the rest of Egypt.
This was essentially the end of Egypt as an independent empire. With the exception of a few brief periods of Egyptian rule, the region spent the following centuries under the control of the Persians, then the Greeks, and later the Romans.
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