Bast was the ancient Egyptian goddess

Bast was the ancient Egyptian goddess of protection and cats. She was the daughter of Ra, the sun god. As protectress, she was seen as defender of the pharaoh, and consequently of the chief god, Ra.

Bast's real name is Bastet, Ubasti, and Pasht. She was worshipped at least since the Second Dynasty in Ancient Egypt. The centre of her cult was in Per-Bast (Bubastis in Greek), which was named after her. Originally she was seen as the protector goddess of Lower Egypt, and therefore her image was a fierce lion. Her name means (female) devourer. She was originally a goddess of the sun, but later changed by the Greeks to a goddess of the moon. In Greek mythology, Bast is also known as Aelurus.

In later times Bast became the goddess of perfumes and had the title perfumed protector. In connection with this, when Anubis became the god of embalming, Bast, as goddess of ointment, and she was regarded as his mother, until Anubis became Nephthys' son.

This gentler characteristic, of Bast as goddess of perfumes, and Lower Egypt's loss in the wars between Upper and Lower Egypt meant that in the Middle Kingdom of Egypt she was seen as a domestic cat and not any more as a lionness. Because domestic cats tend to be tender and protective toward their offspring, Bast was also regarded as a good mother, and she was sometimes shown with kittens. Therefore a woman who wanted children sometimes wore an amulet showing the goddess with kittens, the number of which showed how many children she wanted to have.

Worship

Bastet was the most honored feline deity in Ancient Egypt. The cult of Bastet started around the town of Bubastis, located in the Eastern Delta in Lower Egypt (around 3,200 B.C.), and was an important town from the Old Kingdom through the Late Period. During early Egyptian times the city was called Per-Bast which translates into “the domain of Bast”. Later the city was called Bubastis. Today it is called Tell Basta. Other cities where Bastet was worshipped were for example: Memphis (during the Old Kingdom) where she was associated with Sekhmet, Heliopolis (during the Old Kingdom) where she was called the “Daughter of Tem” (connected to Tefnut), in a city called “Hill of Bast”, in the precinct of Mut in Thebes (during New Kingsom) when connected to Mut, and in the city of Nit (during late period). Festivals celebrating Bastet were held in the cities of Bubastis, Memphis (Luxor), Thebes and Esna. Elaborate festivals of Bastet were called: “Procession of Bastet”, “Bastet protects the two lands”, “Bastet goes forth from Per-Bast” (her city), “Bastet appears before Ra” and the “Festival of Hathor and Bastet”. Her main festivals were celebrated in April and May in Bubastis. Her festivals were some of the most popular in Egypt, because of all the music, dancing and wine. Over 700,000 people came from all over Egypt, often in boats, sailing along the Nile. Men and women sailed together. During their journey they would sing, clap their hands, the women would shake their rattles, the men would play their flutes. Each time when they sailed past people or towns along the Nile, everybody would start singing, cheering and clapping together. In Bubastis the festival began by making sacrifices to Bastet. The Temple of Bast stood in the town center, so one could see it from everywhere. It stood on raised ground. The outside wall of the temple was decorated with pictures of animals. Inside the temple was a courtyard, planted with a grove of trees. Inside the group of trees stood her shrine. Worshippers came from all over Egypt, leaving offerings, bronze statues, amulets and mummified cats in her temple. Thousands of those cats were later found in underground crypts where her temple once stood. During the days of celebration, the Egyptians spent many days making music, dancing and being joyful. Worshippers went to her temple playing instruments, beating drums, shaking tambourines, carrying sistras (sacred rattles), singing and dancing through the streets. “One aspect of the festival, however, was quite moving, and came on the last night. In a town of silence, a town of darkness, a single light would be lit inside the Temple of Bast. And from there the light would spread through the town, carried by devotees; and prayers would rise into the night, accompanied by music and incense.” Bastet, the goddess of cats, was important. She had temples where she was worshiped. The Egyptians people would give sacrifices to her like spice,water,wine milk,bread and meat. She also would be given gold, diamonds, silver, perfumes and other riches. The people of Egypt would also dance and sing to her because she was also the goddess of dancing and singing. They also feasted in her temple to show that she was important

Powers, Jobs, and Roles

Bastet had many different powers and roles. As the goddess of plenty, pleasure, music and dance was sometimes linked with Hathor. Bastet was also the protector of motherhood, fertility, hearth, protector of pregnant women, their newborn infants and children. The Egyptians believed that she could protect men from diseases and demons. If a woman was infertile, she might make an offering to Bastet, hoping that she would have a child. Like Hathor and Sekhmet, she was called “Mother of the Sun God”. She was seen as the personification of the “Warming rays of the sun on the Nile”. Ancient Egyptians also believed she possessed Utchat, the divine, all-seeing Eye of Ra. Later when Bubastis became the seat of the Egyptian Pharaohs, she was honored as one of the Mothers of Egyptian Kings. As the Eye of Ra, she was a god who functioned as a protector or avenger to the pharaoh, destroying the king’s enemies. As the Eye of Ra, Bastet possessed the grace, charm, patience and wile of a domestic cat, as well as the power for the raw, brute strength of a lion. She could also be full of strength, speed and cruelty. By the end of the New Kingdom (1550-1069 B.C.) she became popular and beloved household goddess. She was the protectress of households of all of Lower Egypt. She protected both the poor peasants and the rich nobility

Physical Appearance

Bastet was often seen holding a sistrum (a sacred rattle to ward of evil spirits) in one hand, and an aegis in the other hand. An aegis was a talisman necklace. Sometimes she held the Ankh, the symbol of life. On other statues she sometimes wore a ritual menat necklace. A menat necklace was made of two rows of colorful beads on one side and had a menat (a counterweight) at the other end. Bastet was often shown holding a was scepter. It consisted of a straight shaft with its handle in the shape of a canine head, and the base ending in two prongs. It was a symbol of power, held both by deities and kings. Sometimes she was shown with a litter of kittens at her feet in pictures and statues, because she was also the goddess of fertility and the protectress of motherhood. During the Old Kingdom (2686 B.C.- 2181 B.C.), Bastet was usually seen as a woman with the maneless head of a lioness, which was related to Sekhmet, even though they were not the same. During that time one could still find a lot of wildcats and lions in Lower and Upper Egypt. During Ancient Egypt’s Middle Kingdom (2080 B.C. – 1640 B.C.), Bastet started to be represented as a cat. That was also when cats became domesticated and became beloved pets in Egyptian homes. Cats were valued as good mousers, able to kill rats, snakes and other vermin that might endanger the family or the crops that were stored in storage houses. By that time lions had already completely migrated from Upper Egypt out of Egypt. During the New Kingdom (1550 B.C. – 1069 B.C.) , Bastet was mostly seen as a cat-headed woman, wearing a long, sleek, narrow dress. During this Late Period, when Bubastis was capital of Egypt, Bastet was also often shown as wearing the double crown, or pschent, suckling the pharaoh. The double crown symbolized the king’s rule of both Upper and Lower Egypt, that is, he ruled the Two Lands as one

Family/Friends

Bastet’s father was Ra, the God of the Sun and All Creation. She had two sons named, Konshu, the God of the Moon, and Maahes, a lion-headed God of War. Bastet did not have a mother because Ra, as creator deity, was called “The Great He-She”. Her husband was Ptah, the god of God of Craftsmen, Rebirth and Creation. When associated with Isis, she could be called the “Soul of Isis”. Some texts referred to Bastet and Sekhmet as being linked in a relationship as “Twins”, “Balance of Good (Bastet) and Evil (Sekhmet)”, “Sister-Sister”, “Mother-Daughter”, “Aunt-Niece” or “Big Bad Lioness-Nice Kitty”. Neither are correct, because they are not really related like family. What is true is that Sekhmet, Bastet and dozens of other goddesses were considered to be an “Eye-of-Ra”. Bastet and Sekhmet were paired, but not as opposite personalities of Bastet. They were paired geographically. The main place of Bastet’s worship was in Lower Egypt, while Sekhmet was worshipped in Upper Egypt. They traditionally called Bastet a “She of the North” and Sekhmet a “She of the South”. Sometimes they were also called “Lady of the East” ( Bastet as Protectress of the Eastern Delta ) and “Lady of the West” ( Sekhmet as Protectress of the Western Delta ). It is true that Bastet had parts of Sekhmet in her personality, but I will explain this later in a different paragraph.