Joel and the Egyptian Cat: How Cats Came to Jerusalem

David L. Dudley

Jan. 2022 · Wipf and Stock Publishers

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In training to be a scribe like his father, thirteen-year-old Joel longs for a different life. He is an artist, but drawing is not allowed in Israel. Like King Solomon, Joel understands the languages of animals, but few believe in such a power or understand its value. How can he find a life that will allow him to be himself and still find a place in his world, ancient Jerusalem?

Jerusalem: a city without cats—impossible? Yet such is the case. Wise King Solomon sits upon Israel’s throne, and the temple of God crowns Mount Zion—but still, no cats! Then a passing caravan leaves behind it Ta-Muit, who determines that Joel will be its new master (if cats may be said to accept masters). Mischief quickly follows, ending with Joel standing before Solomon himself, awaiting the king’s justice, not only for Ta-Muit, but for himself. But that’s not the end of the adventure . . .

Joel and the Egyptian Cat occurs three thousand years ago, but it tells a timeless tale of sons versus fathers, individuals against conformist societies, and young people at war with themselves as they grow into adulthood. Despite the conflicts he faces, Joel will succeed, but not without the help and understanding of his family, his king, and—that mischief maker Ta-Muit, the Egyptian cat.

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David Dudley served as a minister in the Lutheran Church before becoming a Professor of Literature at Georgia Southern University, where he served on the faculty for thirty years. He retired in 2019. Dudley is the author of The Bicycle Man, Caleb's Wars, and Cy in Chains.