Volume 4, Plate XXVII / Mammalia (Mammals)

Egyptian Cat

Felis maniculata

The Egyptian Cat is a native of northern Africa about the size of a middle-sized domestic cat but a third smaller than the European wild cat, of a greyish-yellow hue from ochre wool and white-tipped bristles, with eight slender lines on the forehead, streaks along the cheeks, and rings about the neck. Found in the rocky, bushy regions of Nubia, it is held to be the stock from which the ancient Egyptians’ domestic cat descended.