The Ancient Egyptian God Of Cats: Bastet

Bastet [Earlier known as 'Bast'] was the ancient Egyptian God of Cats, protection,Joy, dance and love.She was also addressed by the title 'Lady of Flame' and 'The Eye of Ra'.She was one of the most recognised and longest worshipped Goddesses with Egyptian people worshipping Bastet since the third millennium B.C. She was originally known as 'Bast' in Lower Egypt and the Nile Delta region in the third millennium.

Bastet's father is Ra, the son God and her siblings are Tefnut, Shu, Serket,,Hathor,Ammut, Thoth and,according to some accounts, Horus, Anubis, Sekhmet. Bastet's children are said to be Maahes, Khonsu and, according to some accounts Nerfertum. She and her sister, Sekhmet were married to Ptah, the God of rebirth and creation.

Bastet was often depicted as a domestic Cat or a Woman with a head of a cat or a lioness holding a shield depicting a face of a cat in her left hand and a 'Sistrum', a sacred Egyptian musical instrument used in religious festivals and dancing in her right hand. Her depiction as a Domestic Cat relates to her role as the Goddess of domestic cats which were sacred in ancient Egypt. She is often depicted holding a Sistrum as it represents her role as the God of Joy, Music and Festivals. She is occasionally shown holding an Ankh, the Egyptian symbol of Breath, a Papyrus Wand

representing lower Egypt and a Was-Sceptre, the Egyptian symbol for strength. Later on, she started to be depicted with kittens representing her role as the Goddess associated with pregnant woman.
During the third millennium B.C, Bastet was depicted as a lioness or a woman with the head of a lioness which represented her fierceness as the Goddess of warfare in Lower Egypt. During the Middle Kingdom [2055 -1650 B.C], Bastet started to be depicted as a domestic cat after her role as the lioness war goddess in Lower Egypt diminished after the loss of Lower Egypt in the wars between Lower and Upper Egypt. During the New Kingdom[1550-712 B.C], Bastet started to be depicted as a woman with the head of a domestic cat.
In the third millennium B.C, Bastet was the protector God of Lower Egypt and the pharaoh. She war also the Goddess of War in Lower Egypt. Originally, Bastet had an association with the beneficial light that the sun produces. Bastet also had an association with perfume as her name means 'she of the ointment jar'. Bastet was also considered the patron of motherhood in ancient Egypt. Her role as the War Goddess in Lower Egypt was diminished during the Middle Kingdom when she was replaced by Sekhmet for her incompetency in allowing Lower Egypt to win in the wars against Upper Egypt.
During the 22nd century [945-715 B.C], Bastet became the Goddess of cats in ancient Egypt after Cats became popular in ancient Egypt.

Cats were sacred in ancient Egypt as they protected crops, hunted for the Egyptians and protected ancient Egyptians from diseases by eating infected vermin. Through this, Bastet indirectly became the protector God of ancient Egypt. Cats were considered holy and cats dressed in jewellery were worshipped in High Temples. Cats were Bastet's sacred animal and killing one was considered unfortunate in ancient Egypt. Cats were much loved pets in ancient Egypt so Bastet became popular amongst ancient

Egyptians.

During the 1st millennium B.C, nearly every household in ancient Egypt owned a cat to honour and worship Bastet. When a cat died, the entire household would go into mourning as if a human relative had died and would shave their eyebrows off in tribute to the cat. Dead cats would be mummified and buried like royalty in elegant tombs.
The things that were present when an offering was made to Bastet in a High temple include : sculpture of Bastet on the alter, lotus flowers in front of the alter and an incense burner held by the priest conducting the offering. A variety of things were offered to Bastet including spice, water, milk, meat, wine, bread and sometimes mummies of sacred cats worshipped in the temple. Ordinary Egyptian households worshipped Bastet in shrines in their house. During offerings in ordinary Egyptian households, a sculpture of Bastet was placed on an alter and the ancient Egyptians prayed and offered to Bastet while kneeling on a reed mat. Egyptian women who wanted children usually prayed to Bastet, who was also the Goddess of motherhood, holding an amulet showing Bastet with a number of kittens and that number represented how many children the woman wanted. The priestesses would also dance to Bastet as she was also the God of dancing. Worshippers would also offer diamonds and silver to Bastet. The priests also had great feasts at her temple.
The Festival of Bastet occurred during April and May annually in Bubatis, the cult centre of Bastet. The festival had numerous names including 'The procession of Bastet' and 'Bastet protects two lands'. It was one of the most popular festivals in ancient Egypt with approximately 700,000 people from all over Egypt sailing down the Nile to Bubatis on a number of crowded vessels. Only women and men attended the festival. The women and men celebrated Bastet by dancing, singing and consuming more wine than they would for the rest of the year.
During the journey to Bubatis on the Nile, women and men would sing, clap, shake their rattles and play their flutes. The High priests of Batet would start the festival by offering sacrifices to Bastet. The outside wall of the Temple of Bastet was decorated with pictures of animals during the festival. The high priests would plant a grove of trees around her alter. The worshippers offered a variety of things including bronze statues, mummified cats and amulets. Worshippers participated in music and dance for many days. They would dance in the streets of Bubatis while playing instruments. To conclude the festival, everybody would pray solemnly to Bastet while the priests carried a sacred candle around the city.