Details about Bastet ( God of ancient Egypt )

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Details about Bastet ( God of ancient Egypt )

05 16, 2023

Bastet ( God of ancient Egypt )

Cats were known in ancient Egypt as "Mau", and had an important position in ancient Egyptian society. One of the Egyptian deities that took the form of a cat was Istet, one of the goddesses of the ancient Egyptians, who was embodied in the form of a gentle cat. She was merged with the goddess Sekhmet in the New Kingdom, where Sekhmet was represented in the form of a predatory lioness. The cat symbolizes the goddess Bastet, the daughter of the sun god Ra, who was depicted in drawings as a woman with the head of a cat. Since "Bastet" was closely related to women, she is therefore revered as the goddess of kindness and tenderness.

The ancient Egyptians raised The ancient Egyptians cared for cats in the households and mummified the animals in death the same way they did to the deceased. It was a punishable offense for anyone apart from the priest to kill a cat near a temple.

The oldest Bastet amulets are found in burials from the end of the Old Kingdom. The amulet was worn by women during their lifetime, primarily to place them under the goddess's care and perhaps to give them fertility. Several Egyptologists have suggested that the depiction of the cat may have sexual connotations, given that cats often appear in scenes with women. The animal was even considered a symbol of fertility, as cats were often depicted surrounded by their young, indicating this trait.

According to Herodotus, both men and women from Egypt enjoyed rides on boats which traveled along the Nile to the town of Bubastis. While some women would perform music with the sistrum musical instrument, their male counterparts would be playing the flute and others would be singing and dancing and beating the drums all through the journey. In the beginning of the celebration at Bubastis, there would be extremely extravagant offerings made. The period of this festivity was when the maximum amount of alcohol along with wine was taken as compared to any other time in the year. In addition, he states that ‘the grandeur of the temple devoted to Bastet could be found in the center of the city and was visible from all directions.

The ancient Egyptians were interested in mummifying animals, birds and reptiles that they considered to be the embodiment of some of the ancient Egyptian gods, in order to present them as offerings, including mummified cats that were offered to the goddess "Bastet". In the city of Bubastis, mummified cats were found buried underground, presented by pilgrims from all over Egypt to the goddess "Bastet". A number of amulets were also found there, in addition to bronze statues of the same goddess. In the late dynastic era and the Greek and Roman eras, loyal pilgrims offered thousands of bronze votive statues and tens of millions of mummified cats to appease the goddess in order to answer their prayers.

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Bastet was an ancient Egyptian goddess associated with home, fertility, protection, and the sun. She was often depicted as a lioness or a domestic cat. In Egyptian mythology, she was considered a protective deity and defender against evil spirits.

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