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In the 1999 film The Mummy. Why was the mummy afraid of cats?

I know that they were the guardians of the underworld etc. But what could the house cat that Connor had actually have done?

Or was the Mummy just so knee deep in his superstition that he never actually stopped to realise it was a harmless kitty?

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It was clearly a doom kitty – TylerShads♦ Jul 10 '12 at 13:18
Now if it was a doom kitty even I would have run away and I was just watching the film! – Stefan Jul 10 '12 at 13:20

3 Answers

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Egyptians worshiped cats. Cats were a deified, were thought to be holy, and the mummy was an unholy undead creature.

I am relatively certain that the movie makers wanted it to be similar to a vampire confronted with a cross, or something to that effect.

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Now that is a good idea, not so much just fear as actual repulsion. That would explain it. Although it does not explain why the tribe did not have a legion of cats - I guess that might simply be an oversight to avoid the film becoming silly (well, silly in the wrong way). – Stefan Jul 11 '12 at 8:24
@Stefan there is nothing to say about the reality because nobody knows that if mommy come alive then he will afraid of cat or not. But for a fiction film they used the cat as holly thing like a cross in vampire films. Yes its silly but its look gud while watching movie – Ankit Sharma Jul 11 '12 at 9:11
&Ankit Sharma, you misunderstood. Using the cat as a cross is fine IMHO it is no more silly than crosses, silver bullets, garlic etc. What would have looked silly was the tribe bussing in hundreds of cats and lobbing them at the mummy. Tactically it would have made sense given the relationship between them and the mummy but it would have, quite simply, looked silly. – Stefan Jul 11 '12 at 11:14
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The Mummy was afraid of the cat because of the Egyptian belief that cats are the guardian of the dead. Having been risen from the dead, Imhotep probably thought that the cat could possibly send him back, hence being afraid of them. I know if I was risen from the dead and believed something could send me back I'd avoid it and be scared of it.

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So he thought that the house cat would somehow be able to send him back? Are there details on how a cat would go about doing this? If this was a belief why weren't people lobbing cats at him left, right and centre? Surely Connor should have catnapped the cat in case he got the chance to use it later? – Stefan Jul 10 '12 at 15:33
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@Stefan it is never stated in the movie that the cat could send him back. Rather, it's Imhotep's belief of the ability that makes him scared. One of the main reasons they didn't jsut lob cats at him is because not everyone knew that his weakness was cats. Also, it would make for a boring movie if the main character just strapped a cat to everyone and saved the day. – DForck42♦ Jul 10 '12 at 15:42
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@DForck42 "Also, it would make for a boring movie if the main character just strapped a cat to everyone and saved the day"... Boring? That'd be absolutely funny! :D – Alenanno Jul 10 '12 at 15:42
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@DForck42 I remember the tribesman mentioning that the Mummy would fear cats until he was fully regenerated. Presumably it was just superstition otherwise, surely that tribe would have made sure that had cats by the bucket load. Perhaps even opened a cat sanctuary where the Mummy was buried etc. I agree that simply employing cats as a weapon could lead to cat-astrophic consequences for the plot. I was hoping that there would be a more concrete reason for the Mummy to bolt like he did. – Stefan Jul 10 '12 at 16:31
@Stefan I fear you're trying too much to explain a simple plot detail that was probably meant as a quick joke. – TylerShads♦ Jul 10 '12 at 17:02
up vote 1 down vote

Cats were especially revered by Egyptians and were seen as protectors and were also directly protected by the goddess Bast. Bast was seen as the fierce flame of the sun who burned the deceased should they fail one of the many tests in the underworld.

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Okay thanks ... so why was the mummy afraid of cats? What could the house cat have actually done? – Stefan Jul 10 '12 at 13:45
The house cat itself probably couldn't have done anything to harm the Mummy. However the Mummy could have been fearful of upsetting a goddess by harming a cat. Since the Mummy was a great magician and was effected by Egyptian beliefs he would have respect for any gods or goddess. – Kevin Howell Jul 10 '12 at 18:12

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