History and Origin

The Egyptian Mau dates back over 3000 years. The Egyptian Mau is perhaps the oldest of all domestic cats. They were traded to Egypt from Ethiopia around 1500 BC and are descendants of the African Wild Cat (Felis lyica ocreata.) There are many tombs with hieroglyphics on the walls of the great pyramids depicting this spotted cat that date back to the Egyptian Middle period. The Egyptians domesticated the Mau (the Egyptian word for cat) and worshipped it as a god. Today's pedigree Mau stems from North America, where it originated from cats imported by the exiled Russian princess, Nathalie Troubetskoy. The efforts of the Princess brought the Mau back from the edge. While in Italy, she rescued some of the remaining maus, and using her political connections, she obtained several more through the Syrian embassy. In 1956, Troubetskoy and three maus immigrated to the United States. Once there, Troubetskoy established her Fatima Cattery and promoted the breed. Many modern maus can trace their ancestry back to Troubetskoy’s cats. In the 1980s, another breeder succeeded in bringing 13 maus into America, paving the way for more imports. In the 1980s and 1990s more imports further enlarged the gene pool. The new bloodlines and careful selective breeding brought the breed the health and stability it needed. Today, all major associations accept the mau and while numbers are still low, the breed has a strong following of fans who feel the mau is indeed worthy of worship.