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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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    Now if it was a doom kitty even I would have run away and I was just watching the film!
    – Stefan
    Jul 10, 2012 at 13:20
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Egyptians worshipped cats. Cats were 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, 2012 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, 2012 at 9:11
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    &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, 2012 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, 2012 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, 2012 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, 2012 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, 2012 at 16:31
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    @Stefan I fear you're trying too much to explain a simple plot detail that was probably meant as a quick joke.
    – Tablemaker
    Jul 10, 2012 at 17:02
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Cats were especially revered by Egyptians and were seen as protectors and were also directly protected by the goddess Bastet. Bastet was the daughter of Ra. Ra was 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, 2012 at 13:45
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    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, 2012 at 18:12
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After researching this question, it seems to me that the mummy was afraid of cats in the 1999 movie because this was a popular plot element in previous mummy movies. Similarly, vampires are afraid of crosses and garlic in most vampire movies because it was a medieval myth. Not because there is any "reason" for it. The difference with the mummy vs. cat connection is that this seems primarily invented by movie producers who got it from the idea that cats were "guardians of the dead" in Egyptian mythology. There were other denizens of the underworld in Egyptian mythology that it would have made more sense for the mummies to be afraid of. For example in the original mummy movie with Boris Karlof, a cat is protecting the mummy and the mummy is afraid of Isis. That was more logical. However cats are cute and it was certainly brilliant to make mummies afraid of them in movies. I love the idea myself. I always wondered why in the movies the potential victims did not walk around with a half dozen cats in cat carriers. But then perhaps the plot could not progress as swiftly. Enough said.

I am looking for a list of movies with mummies afraid of cats. Evidently there were not as many as I seem to remember. I took it for granted the mummies were afraid of cats. However it seems that not many of my friends got the same impression from classical mummy movies. Perhaps some of what I remember was from television episodes. All I can say is that whoever wrote the 1999 mummy film must have seen the same films that I saw.

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    Welcome to Movies & TV. Unfortunately this last paragraph: I am looking for a list of movies with mummies afraid of cats isn't appropriate for an answer, no questions in answers please.
    – Crow T Robot
    Aug 7, 2014 at 2:27
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cats big or small they protect the underworld the mummy thought that the cat could possible send him back to the underworld or the dead as we would say now days cat were very holy and the mummy is very unholy so they would try to stay away for the holy creature

were i got my research im a world history teacher

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    You are not a World History teacher. You are unable to string together a coherent thought using capital letters and punctuation.
    – Meat Trademark
    Feb 27, 2014 at 3:33
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    It is possible that the poster is a teacher but English is not their first language. However, the given answer has already been covered by the other given answers.
    – Stefan
    Feb 27, 2014 at 10:05

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