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Altar for Bast
  
Bast, Egyptian
CAT Goddess
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Bast is an ancient cat goddess, solar
goddess, war goddess, and divine mother worshipped at least
since the Second Dynasty in Lower Egypt. Originally
she was viewed as the protector goddess of Lower Egypt, and
consequently depicted as a fierce lioness. Indeed, her name
means (female) devourer. As protector, she was seen
as defender of the pharaoh, and consequently of the later
chief male deity, Ra, who was a solar deity also, gaining
her the titles Lady of Flame and Eye of Ra.
Due to the threat to the food supply
that could be caused by simple vermin such as mice and rats,
cats, and their ability to fight and kill snakes, especially
cobras, cats in Egypt were revered highly, sometimes being
given golden jewelry to wear and being allowed to eat from
the same plates as their owners.
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Consequently, later as the main cat
(rather than lioness) deity, Bastet was strongly revered as
the patron of cats, and thus it was in the temple at Per-Bast
that dead (and mummified) cats were brought for burial. More
than 300,000 mummified cats were discovered when Bast's
temple at Per-Bast was excavated. Egyptians believe, when a
cat in the family dies, to show respect, they display the
body outside of the home.
Later, Bast came to be called
Bastet. Since Bastet literally meant, (female)
of the ointment jar, Bast gradually became regarded as
the goddess of perfumes, earning the title perfumed
protector. In connection with this, when Anubis became
the god of embalming, Bast, as goddess of ointment, came to
be regarded as his wife. |
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