Fisters Family Album - The Secret of The Sphinx finally revealed!

The Secret of The Sphinx finally revealed!

I was looking through Fisters collection of old pictures and memorabilia again recently, when I found this fascinating and rare photograph:

http://www.studio16a.dk/Cats/f-Sphinx-grain.jpg

For many years, researchers have been discussing whether the head on the Sphinx as it is today is the original head or not. So, seeing this photograph, I decided to ask Fister about this. He has often told me about how much cats were revered and worshipped back in “The good old days” when the Pharaohs reigned. It seems that he feels a general lack of respect and understanding from the human race has developed since then.

“Back in those days” he says “people knew how to show the respect and devotion that we felines really deserve. Cats were considered as gods, and killing a cat was punishable by death!
The male cat was always depicted as sacred to the sun god Ra and the female cat to the fertility goddess Bast. Cats were carefully looked after during life, and the cadavers were also mummified and preserved in special cemeteries after death.
When a house cat died, the whole family and all their servants shaved their eyebrows and went into mourning - and the death of a temple cat would be mourned by the whole city."

"All this rubbish about the original head of the Sphinx representing Ramses or some other random pharaoh is complete nonsense. In actual fact, it was one of my forefathers who modelled for it. He really did look like me, don’t you agree?”

Fister claims to have inherited the picture from his dear mum, the ubiquitous Mrs. Spot.

john
(Fisters curator)

For other examples from Fisters inheritance, see:

Fisters Family Album - Cezanne

Fisters Family Album - Andy Warhol

http://burns.thefinaldimension.org/o...elrotflmao.gif

:D I love it!

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/...5/fc2f15d9.gif

you sure have "the gift" John.
c'mon..who are you really?
are you already famous becasue you should be!

How interesting, John! I love this threads of you so much! Fister must be so proud with a daddy like you ;) ;) :)

What I am really impressed by is how extensively your foreparents traveled! Egypt, France, US. Wow Fister, what fascinating stories you must have heard as a kitten...(I know I love hearing your stories!)

Filou says he is a little surprised to see especially this face on the sphinx. He was sure it was one of HIS forefathers........

Interesting theme for a lot of research!!!

It has come to my attention that there have been rumors concerning the veracity of Fisters latest picture, with some peoples’ cats claiming that in reality it was THEIR forefathers who were depicted on the Sphinx. I would imagine that this ridiculous idea originated with one of our Abyssinian friends. ;)

When I suggested this to Fister he just laughed out loud.
“Oh no,” he said, “that is a totally unfounded rumor. Just because these cats can saunter around with their heads in the air looking snooty doesn’t mean that they were the smartest. You see, among the races of silvestris, (which go back over half a million years), the European had the largest brain, followed by the steppe cats of central Asia and lybica of north-east Africa. Mummified Egyptian cats possessed a brain the size of lybica. These were domesticated cats, and the reduction in brain size was probably a result of domestication. Very few of the domestics approached the brain size of European silvestris. The whole concept of cat breeds didn’t turn up in human history until the nineteenth century anyway.”
“Our family, on the other hand, were tough and independent creatures who got things done and didn’t let a bunch of mere humans decide over us. Of course, the Pharaohs couldn’t let on to their subjects that they, in fact were ruled by us, so they perpetrated the myth of the holiness of Abyssinians and other species, while actually worshipping us. That’s why we are pictured so rarely, and probably why the Sphinx was later defaced and the head replaced with a human one. It’s all quite simple really”

So there you have it. The jury is still out.
I myself would prefer to believe Fisters story, since he is sitting beside me at this moment and has very long claws. :)

john
Fisters curator

That is so CUTE!

The Egyptians had the right idea, hey? :D

It is great to read that Fister has such a good sense of his family's cultural heritage! :)