Time Cat History Notes
Egypt 2700 B.C.
Bastet - Goddess of the Home
Other names : Bast, Ubaste
The Egyptian goddess Bastet, daughter of Ra, was among the more popular of the ancient Egyptian gods and goddesses. She had a huge cult following in the city of Bubastis in the Nile delta.
In ancient times, the goddess Bastet was depicted as a lioness. She was associated with related attributes, such as vengeance, ferocity and war.
Later on, Bastet bore the likeness of the domesticated cat, and took on more docile characteristics. She became the goddess of the home and represented more friendly attributes such as music and dancing.
As such a popular Egyptian goddess, Bastet and her symbol - the domesticated cat - were considered sacred. Cats were treated as holy creatures, and were even mummified when they died.
Neter-Khet - Netjerikhet Djoser was the 2nd King of Egypt's 3rd Dynasty, and was probably the most famous king during this period. He is also sometimes referred to as Zoser, and by the Greeks, Tesorthos. Through contemporary sources, he is only known by his Horus and Nebt-names, Netjerikhet, "the divine of body". Djoser may have been the king's birth name and appears only in later records. The earliest evidence that the two names belong to the same king is found on a long inscription on a large rock on the island of Sehel at Aswan.
Rome and Britain 55 B.C.
Caesar's Summer Vacation: In 55 B.C. Julius Caesar, then general of the Roman armies in Gaul, decided that it would be a good move to try a little summer invasion of Britiain. It may have been a move intended to gain prestige back home in Rome, but it was a move that made sense. The Celts in Gaul had been receiving aid from their close relations in southern England. British Celts may even have fought with related tribes in Gaul against the Romans. Certainly J. C. complained that defeated Gauls would slip away to Britain to regroup. Tackling the British Celts made sense in the battle to secure Gaul for Rome.
Dealing with the Druids: Part of this mopping up took the form of eradicating the Druids. By the standards of their time the Romans could be tolerant of the religions of the peoples they conquered. However, the Druids represented not just a religious hierarchy, but real political and administrative authority among the Celts. And to give the Romans their due, they seem to have been genuinely horrified by what they considered the grisly and uncivilized practices of the Druids. The Romans were big on the benefits of the civilization they were bringing to the people they conquered. They saw themselves as on a mission to expand the Empire and bring the Roman way of life to all the poor souls bereft of its benefits. Curiously, this is the same attitude later employed by those who built the British Empire.
Ireland 411 A.D.
St. Patrick: When he was about 16 he was captured from Britain by Irish raiders and taken as a slave to Ireland, where he lived for six years before escaping and returning to his family. After entering the Church, he returned to Ireland as an ordained bishop in the north and west of the island, but little is known about the places where he worked.
Japan 998 A.D.
Ichingo and Uncle Fujiwara
Emperor Murakami (村上天皇, Murakami-tennō?, June 2, 926 – May 25, 967) was the 62nd emperor of Japan from 946 to his death in 967.
Before he ascended to the Chrysanthemum Throne, his personal name (imina) was Nariakira-shinnō (成明親王).
Murakami's maternal Uncle Fujiwara no Tadahira remained as the Sessho regent until 949. After the death of Tadahira, there was no regent and although contemporaries praised Murakami as the emperor who governed the state directly, in reality the Fujiwara clan seized power and ruled Japan. The brothers Fujiwara no Saneyori and Fujiwara no Morosuke became the de facto rulers of Japan.
Italy 1468
Leonardo da Vinci was born on April 15, 1452, near the village of Vinci to Ser Piero da Vinci, a prominent notary (a public official who certifies legal documents) of Florence, and a local woman, Caterina.
Leonardo's childhood home in Anchiano.
The young Leonardo was always setting himself to learn a multitude of things, most of which were shortly abandoned. When he began the study of arithmetic, he made, within a few months, such remarkable progress that he could baffle his master with the questions and problems that he raised....All the time, through all his other enterprises, Leonardo never ceased drawing..."
Leonardo's father, Ser Piero, realising that his son's talents were extraordinary, took some of his drawings to show his friend, Andrea del Verrocchio, who ran one of the largest artists' workshops in Florence. Leonardo was accepted for apprenticeship and "soon proved himself a first class geometrician".
Peru 1555
Sayri Túpac (c. 1535 – 1561) was an Inca ruler in Peru. After the murder of his mother in 1539 and his father in 1544, both by the Spaniard conquerors, he became the ruler of the independent Inca state of Vilcabamba until 1560. Sayri Túpac was five years old when he became ruler and reigned for ten years with the aid of regents. This was a time of peace with the Spanish.
The Spainards convinced Sayri Túpac to leave Vilcabamba in 1560. Sayri Túpac renounced his claim to the Inca Empire and accepted baptism, as Diego. (is this where the Don Diego character name came from?)
The Isle of Man 1588
The Manx breed originated before the 18th century on the Isle of Man (hence the name), where they are common. They are called stubbin in the Manx language. Tail-less cats were common on the island as long as three hundred years ago.
Folk beliefs claim the Manx cats came from the Spanish Armada; a ship foundered on the cliffs at Spanish Head on the coast of the Isle of Man. According to legend, the cats on the ship swam ashore and became an established breed. Legend has it that the cats originally went onboard the Spanish ship in the Far East.
Cats were believed to have miraculous powers that could protect ships from dangerous weather. Sometimes, fishermen's wives would keep black cats at home too, in the hope that they would be able to use their influence to protect their husbands at sea. It was believed to be lucky if a cat approached a sailor on deck, but unlucky if it only came halfway, and then retreated. Another popular belief was that cats could start storms through magic stored in their tails. If a ship's cat fell or was thrown overboard, it was thought that it would summon a terrible storm to sink the ship and that if the ship was able to survive, it would be cursed with nine years of bad luck. Other beliefs included, if a cat licked its fur against the grain, it meant a hailstorm was coming; if it sneezed it meant rain; and if it was frisky it meant wind.
Some of these beliefs are rooted in reality. Cats are able to detect slight changes in the weather, as a result of their very sensitive inner ears, which also allow them to land upright when falling. Low atmospheric pressure, a common precursor of stormy weather, often makes cats nervous and restless.
Germany 1600
Outbreaks of witchcraft hysteria, with subsequent mass executions, began in the early 16th Century in Europe. The vast majority of those who fell under suspicion of witchcraft were women. Some were accused merely because they kept cats, which were thought to be familiars or demons given to witches by the devil to act as advisers and messengers.
The witch trials at Fulda in Germany in the years from 1603 to 1606, which led to the death of about 205 people, many of them burnt alive at the stake, was one of the biggest witch trials in Europe and one of the biggest mass-executions in peace time.
America 1775
From the 17th century peddlers set out with their wares along the roads and by-ways of New England and further into the colonies. It was the Yankee peddler who followed the pioneers westward, and brought the requisites for civilized life to the back of beyond. Regionally, the peddler served as a conduit for goods and services (and news) across the dispersed New England farms and villages and also brought products back from the rural areas to the larger towns.
The first Patriot intelligence network on record was a secret group in Boston known as the Mechanics, which meant skilled workers.. The Mechanics organized resistance to British authority and gathered intelligence. The Mechanics also sabotaged and stole British military equipment in Boston.
Through their intelligence sources, the Mechanics were able to see through the cover story the British had devised to mask their march on Lexington and Concord. Dr. Joseph Warren, chairman of the Committee of Safety, charged Revere with the task of warning Samuel Adams and John Hancock at Lexington, Massachusetts, that they were the probable targets of the enemy operation. Revere arranged for the warning lanterns to be hung in Old North Church to alert patriot forces at Charlestown, and then set off on his famous ride. He completed his primary mission of notifying Adams and Hancock. Then Revere, along with Dr. Samuel Prescott and William Dawes, rode on to alert Concord, only to be apprehended by the British en route. Dawes got away, and Dr. Prescott managed to escape soon afterward and to alert the Patriots at Concord. Revere was interrogated and subsequently released, after which he returned to Lexington to warn Hancock and Adams of the proximity of British forces.
World Map
Top of Form
How Well Do You Know "Time Cat"?
In the beginning of the story, Jason was sent to his room. Which of the following did he do that morning?
o Talked back to his father.
o Glued himself to the table.
o Kicked his brother.
o Spilled paint.
Time Cat was originally published in
o 2005
o 1963
o 1989
o 2004
On their visit to America, which of these wars is going on?
o WWI
o WWII
o Civil War
o Revolutionary War
Leonardo paints which of the following to impress his father?
o Gareth
o A bear
o Italy
o His father
Jason finds it amusing that the seacat Dulcinea
o is afraid of the sea.
o does not have a tail.
o lives in a barrel.
o has lots of kittens.
Which of the following places do the heroes not visit?
o Japan
o Rome
o Isle of Man
o Spain
St. Patrick, in this story, goes by the name of
o Diahan
o Lugad
o Miliucc
o Sucat
Which of these characters is the leader of the Incas on Jason and Gareth's trip to Peru?
o Don Diego
o Sayri Tupac
o Emperor Cuzco
o Manco Capac
1. Who would you like to have met before they became famous?
2. What was your most favourite place Jason and Gareth visited and why?
3. How are the characters in Time Cat different than characters we've read about in other books?
4. Why do you think cats have been treated so differently throughout the ages?
5. What other time and place would you like to visit? Why?
6. How do you think the adventure will change Jason?
7. How has reading this book made you feel about growing up?
8. Is this a good way to introduce kids to history? Has this book made you want to learn more about a certain place or time?