During an excavation in Jerusalem, a group of Israeli archaeologists found the oldest documented trace of feline behavior on a 1.200-year-old clay pot fragment.
This is a piece from the period of Islamic rule of the Abbasid Caliphate, and was intended for transporting water, wine or olive oil.
The excavation site was a residential area of the city in the 9th century. It is known from mentions in ancient texts that cats had a special place in Islamic culture at that time.
What is evidence of the feline presence in the city is that the vase has claw marks indicating that a cat “kneaded” it, as is commonly called the gesture cats make of massaging a surface with their claws while the clay was still soft, before it dried.
The discovery was made by Gretchen Cotter, director of the excavation laboratory.