The Egyptian religion lasted more than 3,000 years, was polytheistic and many of its fascinating gods were represented with human bodies and animal heads. Numerous temples were dedicated to them and to the pharaohs who represented the link between the divine world and the human world. The pharaohs, considered gods, had to perform rituals and offerings so that the gods could maintain the "universal order". Among the most well-known gods of Ancient Egypt are Ra, Amon, Isis, Nut, Osiris, Anubis, Horus and a particularly unique goddess: The Goddess Bastet.
Join us to know 20 Curiosities of the Egyptian cat goddess , so venerated that the cats that lived in her temple were mummified when they died. Goddess of war, represented by a lioness in the Low Egypt , derived with the unification of ancient Egyptian cultures in a goddess with a cat's head that she was protective of the home, of love, harmony and joy, in addition to watching over the pharaohs.
20 Curiosities of the goddess Bastet
1. The goddess Bastet also received the name of Bast and the Greeks called her Bastis, creating a parallel between her and the Greek goddess Sagebrush .
2. At some moments in the history of the Egyptian religion, Bastet merged with Sekhmet "the terrible one", the goddess with a lion's head that symbolized strength, power, war and revenge. From the XXII Dynasty, they separated definitively.
3. The goddess Bastet was the protector of the home, of the temples, of the pharaohs, of fertility, motherhood and joy.
4. She was also the protector of cats.
5. The meaning of "Bastet" is uncertain, some scholars believe it means "the heartbreaking", although the latest studies suggest that it could mean "The one with the ointment bottle" because its name and the word "ointment" seem to have the same hieroglyphic and that was written in the bottles that contained it since she was also related to protective ointments.
6. According to linguists it is possible that the word "alabaster", which did not come from the Greek, comes from the goddess Bastet since the jars of ointment were made from that material.
7. In those luxurious jars perfume was also stored in the form of an ointment and that is why it was sometimes called "the perfumed protector".
8. In its origin it was protective of the pharaohs and by extension also of Ra. That's why she was sometimes depicted as "the eye of Ra" (the female counterpart of this god) and fighting against a snake named Apep who was an enemy of Ra.
9. The most common representations of the goddess Bastet are like a domestic cat or a woman with a cat's head.
10. Its two main attributes are an "ankh" or cross of the life of the ancient Egyptians and a "sistro" that is a musical instrument. The latter used to carry him to represent his liking for the music and dances that his followers played and performed in his honor.
11. The character of the goddess was at first peaceful, kind and protective. However, especially in the times when she was merged with Sejmet, she could become violent and fierce and that was when she changed her cat's head to that of a lioness.
12. The main center of worship of the goddess Bastet was in the city of Bubastis, which is named in her honor.
13. Bubastis was in the delta of the Nile (the city today is called Zagazig) and in its temples hundreds of cats were raised in his honor since it was believed that they were his representation or manifestation.
14. When these temple cats died, they were mummified and buried in specific tombs for those "divine" animals.
15. In Bubastis a great festival was celebrated annually in honor of the goddess. It was known as "the party of drunkenness" and accompanied by music with large amounts of wine. With this revelry it was intended that the goddess be happy and not become her "other me", the furious lioness.
16. On the day of Bastet's party, about 700,000 visitors arrived to the city of Bubastis, men and women, but it was a party for adults, children did not attend, possibly due to the heavy consumption of alcohol and the look of the holiday. .
17. According to an old legend, in Egypt the veneration for cats, representation of the goddess Bastet, was so great that they rendered the city of Pelusio to the Persians so as not to harm any cat. If you want to know the full story, you can read it in this post: Pelusium, the battle that the Persians won thanks to some cats .
18. Egypt had a god named Maahes who was depicted as a ferocious lion. Popularly it was believed that he was Bastet's son.
19. When the Goddess Bastet went from lion to cat and given the tender and maternal nature of domestic cats with their young, began to be considered a good mother. Sometimes it was represented with numerous kittens and women who wanted to have children used amulets with that image. In these amulets the goddess had by her side as many kittens as children wanted to have the woman.
20. As the last of these curiosities of the goddess Bastet, here is the hieroglyph with her name:
Did you know the goddess Bastet? What do you think about these curiosities about the cat goddess? If you know any more, buy it with us! and if you want to know more about the intense relationship between cats and ancient Egypt, we invite you to read the post: 10 curiosities about cats and Ancient Egypt .
Image: Einsamer Schütze