May 30, 1778 is the date of Voltaire's death. We glimpse from his book: "In Defense of My Uncle," how the 18th century French viewed Egyptian history:
"Nothing was ever more contemptible than the superstition of this people...Cleopatra was no more concerned about [the worship of cats]... than Herod was about those [superstitions] of Judea.
"Diodorus Auletes relates that he saw [Egyptians] massacre a Roman who casually killed a cat. The death of this Roman was well avenged when the Romans governed...Nothing now remains of those unfortunate [Egyptian] priests but their memory which must be forever odious."
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