{"id":5910,"date":"2011-02-24T23:56:02","date_gmt":"2011-02-25T05:56:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/holyrover\/?p=5910"},"modified":"2011-02-24T23:56:02","modified_gmt":"2011-02-25T05:56:02","slug":"the-sultans-cats","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/holyrover\/2011\/02\/24\/the-sultans-cats\/","title":{"rendered":"The Sultan's Cats"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"\"
Cat warming itself before a light in Hagia Sophia (Lori Erickson photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

No ancient ruins or beautiful holy sites today, for this post is for cat lovers alone. As one myself, I was delighted in Turkey to see many cats\u2014sunbathing on public benches, pouncing on each other in parks, even warming themselves before a lamp in Hagia Sophia (see above). Particularly in Istanbul, cats seemed to rule the city.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Cat keeping guard at the Blue Mosque in Istanbul (Lori Erickson photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

These cats didn\u2019t have the sad and furtive demeanor of\u00a0strays, either. Most seemed to be quite healthy and well-fed. The reason, according to our guide in Istanbul, is that they are the Sultan\u2019s Cats.<\/p>\n

\u201cMany years ago a sultan decreed that the cats in Istanbul were to be protected because they ate rats and mice,\u201d he said, pointing to a particularly handsome tabby outside the Blue Mosque. \u201cThe people were to feed them and not harm them. Even to this day, the people still obey the Sultan\u2019s command.\u201d<\/p>\n

I guess if one has an allergy to cats this wouldn\u2019t be quite so charming, but I loved seeing the happy felines at the major sites in Turkey (and at Ephesus, I was pleased to hear that the cats there had just had \u201cbirth control operations,\u201d in our guide\u2019s felicitous phrase).<\/p>\n

\"Ephesus,
Sunbathing Cat at Ephesus (Lori Erickson photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I later learned that there\u2019s an Islamic story of a cat killing a\u00a0poisonous snake that had approached the Prophet Muhammad. This led to the popular saying:\u00a0\u201cIf you\u2019ve killed a cat, you need to build a mosque to be forgiven by God.\u201d<\/p>\n

So here\u2019s to the\u00a0wise Sultan, his cats, and to the people who still care for the feline citizens of Turkey.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

No ancient ruins or beautiful holy sites today, for this post is for cat lovers alone. As one myself, I was delighted in Turkey to see many cats\u2014sunbathing on public benches, pouncing on each other in parks, even warming themselves before a lamp in Hagia Sophia (see above). Particularly in Istanbul, cats seemed to rule […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2582,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23,153],"tags":[270,686],"class_list":["post-5910","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cats","category-turkey","tag-cats-2","tag-sultan"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Sultan's Cats<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"No ancient ruins or beautiful holy sites today, for this post is for cat lovers alone. 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