The Cat of Bubastes

This is the story of Amuba, Prince of the Rebu, who is captured in war by the Egyptians and made the slave of the high priest of Osiris. The priest is a kind man, and Amuba becomes a companion to the priest's son. The first half of the book moves slowly, introducing the main characters and describing various aspects of Egyptian culture. The story picks up when the priest's son accidentally kills a cat that is intended to become the sacred cat of Bubastes. The high priest is killed, and his son and Amuba, along with the high priest's daughter and Hebrew servant must flee Egypt. They decided to return to the home of the Rebu and to try to establish Amuba as king. Crazy adventures follow, including a rather forced and out-of-place cameo by show more Moses, who is still living as an Egyptian prince at the time of the story.

I can see why I loved this book as a child--it has lots of high adventure in exotic locales. But as an adult, I also see some flaws. I think Henty made up the Rebu people, as I haven't been able to find any reference to them, at least not on the internet. According to Henty, the Rebu live on the west coast of the Caspian Sea, which would place them in modern-day Iran, Azerbaijan, or Russia. The book speaks of Persians, but makes it clear that the Rebu are not Persian. Did the Egyptians conquer as far northeast of their own land as the Caspian Sea? I'm not sure that they did, but I'm no expert in Egyptian history, either.

Another problem I have with the book pertains to religion. Several of the characters come to the conclusion that there is one true God, but that He can be worshipped through the Egyptian gods, because each of these gods represents an attribute of the true God. If this is the case, then why did God prohibit idol worship throughout the Old Testament?

Finally, the Moses character says that he is called "Moses" because that name was found pinned to his basket when the princess found him floating down the Nile. According to the Bible, Moses is so-named because he was drawn out of the water. Historical and biblical accuracy is important, Mr. Henty. show less

This book is billed as a "children's classic", but I think children would be hard-pressed to read it, and today's teens, if they were able to read it, probably would not like it. This is an old-fashioned novel about Egypt; written in the 19th century. It is a product of its time, and a good one. There is a lot of information to process about battle procedures and tactics, as well as foreign names. It is the story of of Amuba, Prince of the Rebu, who is captured in war by the Egyptians and made the slave of the high priest of Osiris. The priest is a kind man, and Amuba becomes a companion to the priest's son. The priest's son accidentally kills a sacred cat which is punishable by death. Amuba, the priest's son, and his sister must flee. show more Moses and the Israelites even make an appearance! 339 pages show less

It is easy to see why Henty's books were once so popular. This book was replete with exciting adventure. Many characters were noble and good, some were still fairly noble, but rather wicked, and others were trivial. Henty included a great deal of historical detail in all his books. In this book, the protagonist and his friends take trips and go hunting mostly so that Henty can describe the daily lives of ancient Egyptians. Henty was a Christian author; I quite enjoyed the protagonist's meeting with a troubled Moses, still an Egyptian nobleman, but fallen out of favor due to politics. Bring me more of this wholesome, yet lively, young adult fare!

Review: The Cat of Bubastes by G. A. Henty. This is a wonderful “Children’s Classic” written over a hundred years ago. There is no copyright date but the author was born in 1832 and died in 1902. I thought it was well written and I loved the characters. I really didn’t know at first that it was a children’s book until I read about the author. The story is written for any age with adventure, coming of age, culture, and people of various races as far back as Moses. The setting is in Egypt and described with as much authenticity to keep the reader captivated. Each chapter gives a great amount of details and interesting facts about Egypt woven into an exciting and suspenseful story that any reader would enjoy. The story is about a show more teen-age Rebu Prince, Amuba who lost his Kingdom, his father, his family, and his home to the Egyptians in a battle to take over the kingdom. They took many of the Redu people back to Egypt to use as slaves. However, the Prince and one of his father’s best companions, Jethro both ended up being chosen by the High Priest of the Temple of the Gods as a companion for his teen-age son Chebron, and a protector for his daughter. One day Chebron and Amuba took their bows and arrows out to the area where the hens, geese, ducks and other animals were migrating and hid in the bushes to find out what has been scaring and killing some of the flock. They heard a loud screech and noticed a large black raven swooping down in attempt to catch his prey. Both boys stood at a stance with their weapons ready and shot their arrows toward the bird. Amuba’s arrow found its mark and the bird dropped to the ground. Amuba was elated that he hit his mark until he looked over and saw Chebron in a state of panic pointing to the shed that housed some of his sister’s pets. Stuttering and crying Chebron managed to explain to Amuba that his arrow veered off a branch and struck his sister’s favorite and sacred cat. In Egypt a few animals are considered Gods of worship and this cat was highly sacred and was chosen as the one special blessed cat of Egypt. If it was known that he killed the cat he would be denounced and most likely be killed. Once this happens the decision was made by his father for Amuba, Jethro and Chebron to go away as far as they could. Before they even got out of the city the news had spread….The story moves on with plenty of adventure and chaos…. One moral concept I got from the story was that no matter what religion, race, sex or god many people gave a helping hand and were considerate of each other to the very end….but most stories has a villain…. show less

Pretty good book that lets you discover quite a bit about Ancient Egypt, if you can pull the fact from the fiction, and a generally nice story. The language makes reading this book a little tiring, but it was written quite a while ago so that's understandable. My only complaint is that I wish there was more character development, especially towards the end, where a romance that's never discussed is just suddenly presented to you.

Chebron, the young son of an Egyptian high priest, and Amuba, a young slave in the boy's household, are close friends; but their lives are greatly altered when Chebron accidentally kills a cat, an animal held sacred by the ancient Egyptians. Forced to flee for their safety, the boys and their companions begin a long and dangerous journey.

A thrilling adventure story, this is also a tale packed with historical facts. Among other fascinating details, young readers learn about the Egyptian religion and geography, how the Nile was used for irrigation, and how the Egyptians made war and were prepared for burial. A captivating book that accurately describes life in a once magnificent civilization, this volume will especially appeal to show more youngsters fascinated by the life and customs of ancient Egypt.

Set in 1250 B.C. at the time of Moses. show less

I read this book when I was really young and I loved it. The sacred cat of Bubastes has accidentally been slain; now young Chebron must pay for the offense with his own life, as this is the law of the Pagans in Egypt, 1250 BC. Chebron, the son of a high Egyptian priest, flees for his life, taking his sister Mysa, one of the household slaves Amuba, and several companions with him. They escape through closely guarded Egyptian exits only to find themselves in unfamiliar and dangerous lands inhabited by a very different culture of people. Along the way, the roving band of refugees encounters and befriends a Hebrew girl, who exposes them to very strange ideas, including the worship of "one true God."