Egyptian Cat Goddess Bast
In the late and ptolemaic periods large cemeteries of mummified cats were created at both sites and thousands of bronze statuettes of the goddess.
Egyptian cat goddess bast. She was generally revered as the daughter of ra the creator god and king of the egyptian gods. Bast the egyptian cat goddess had numerous areas of influence that developed over time. She was typically represented in the form of a domestic cat or as a woman with the head of a cat always carrying a sistrum musical instrument because she was especially pleased by humans dancing and playing music in her honor. Therefore it makes sense that numerous pharaohs have been associated with her.
Bast the egyptian cat goddess. Today egyptologists typically refer to bast as bastet because of variants in the spelling that came along later. Scholars believe this goddess might have once been the egyptian lion headed goddess of war sekhmet. She was native to bubastis in the nile river delta but also had an important cult at memphis.
Bastet is the egyptian goddess of the home domesticity women s secrets cats fertility and childbirth. Her main attributes include being the protector of lower egypt the patron goddess of cats and firefighters and being a goddess of the sun war fertility music and celebration. She is typically represented by the image of a cat. The daughter of re the sun god bastet was an ancient deity whose ferocious nature was ameliorated after the domestication of the cat around 1500 bce.
Bastet is one of the most powerful goddesses in the egyptian pantheon. She became both a nurturing mother figure and a terrifying avenger. In egyptian mythology bastet bast is the goddess of protection cats pregnancy fertility music warfare and ointments. In the early days she was the fierce lion headed goddess of the lower nile who protected the pharaoh and the sun god ra.
Bast was known as a goddess of warfare in lower egypt during the period in which egypt was still divided. She s been known as both bast and bastet. Bastet also called bast ancient egyptian goddess worshiped in the form of a lioness and later a cat. Bastet originally ubaste or bast is the egyptian cat goddess often depicted in egyptian tv scenes movies and books.
She symbolizes the joy of living as it is considered the deity of harmony and happiness. As bastet was the goddess of cats she was usually depicted with a cat head and an ankh the egyptian symbol of life. At the same time cultures in upper egypt honored sekhmet a similar cat headed goddess of battle. Or she takes the form of an attractive woman with the head of a cat.
Bastet goddess of cats is one of the most well known figures of the egyptian pantheon. She protected the home from evil spirits and disease especially diseases associated with women and children. Bast is the egyptian goddess also known as bastet whose mission is to protect the home.