ÆLURUS, the Latinised Greek name of the cat deity of Egypt; represented sometimes like a cat, and sometimes as a human body with a cat's head. The Egyptians had so superstitious a regard for this animal, that the killing of it, whether by accident or design, was punished with death; and Diodorus relates, that, in a time of famine, they chose rather to eat one another than touch these sacred animals. The cat was sacred to the goddess Pasht or Bubastis.