BASTET (Bast)

Symbols: cat, lioness,sistrum, Udjat, (Eye of Horus)
Cult Center: Bubastis
Links: The Name of Bast

The goddess Bastet was usually represented as a woman with the head of a domesticated cat. She was also portrayed though with the head of a lioness and with green skin. In her right hand, Bastet holds a sistrum (a kind of rattle sacred to her). As portrayed as a cat, she was connected with the moon (her son Khensu was the god of the moon). When shown as a lioness, she is associated with sunlight.

Bastet was the goddess of fire, cats, of the home and pregnant women. According to one myth, she was the personification of the soul of Isis. She was also called the "Lady of the East". As such, her counterpart as "Lady of the West" was Sehkmet

Bastet was said to be the wife and daughter of the sun-god Re

Her center of worship was in Bubastis (Per-Bast, Pa-Bast, Pibeseth, Tell-Basta), in the eastern Delta. Her chief festivals were celebrated in April and May. Herodotus, the famous Greek historian, provides the following description of one of the festivals:

"When the Egyptians travel to Bubastis, they do so in this manner: men and women sail together, and in each boat there are many persons of both sexes. Some of the women shake their rattles and some of the men blow their pipes during the whole journey, while others sing and clap their hands. If they pass a town on the way, some of the women land and shout and jeer at the local women, while others dance and create a disturbance. They do this at every town on the Nile. When they arrive at Bubastis, they begin the festival with great sacrifices, and on this occasion, more wine is consumed than during the whole of the rest of the year."