10 Facts about Bastet

Thursday, July 9th 2015. | Religion

The notable goddess in ancient Egyptian religion is explained in Facts about Bastet. She was called in various names before the unification of the ancient Egyptian culture. The ancient people who live in the Lower Egypt, Nile River delta region called her As Bast. She was considered as the goddess of warfare. Here are other interesting facts about Bastet below:

Facts about Bastet 1: the names

People often called her Bastet. But she also has different names such as Baset, Ubaste and Baast.

Facts about Bastet 2: the unification of culture

In the Lower Egypt, the goddess of warfare was called As Bast. On the other hand, Bast was used to call the parallel warrior lioness deity in the Upper Egypt, Sekhmet. When the culture of the Lower and Upper Egypt merged, the deities became one. Find out facts about Egyptian Gods here.

Bastet Cat

Facts about Bastet 3: the representation

The representation of Bastet was in the form of a cat when she was changed from a lioness warrior deity. She was represented as a cat who served as the major protector deity in the 22nd Dynasty. Then she was called Bastet.

Facts about Bastet 4: the meaning of Bastet

Let’s find out the meaning of Bastet. Actually, the meaning of this word is not certain. However, Stephen Quirke believed that the word Bastet means “she of the ointment jar”. The meaning of the name was related to the protective ointment and ointment jar.

Facts about Bastet

Facts about Bastet 5: the function of this goddess

Bastet is believed to protect the people from the evil spirit and contagious diseases.

Facts about Bastet 6: the Eye of Ra

Bastet had a transformation in ancient Egyptian culture when the people transformed her symbol from the lioness goddess into a cat goddess. Moreover, she was called as the eye of Ra.

Bastet

Facts about Bastet 7: the first depiction

Bastet was described as a woman with lioness head or a fierce lioness in the third millennium BC.

Facts about Bastet 8: Ra

Ra was the solar deity in ancient Egyptian religion. Bastet was called as the Eye of Ra or Lady of Flame. The titles were given by Ra to Bastet.

Bastet Image

Facts about Bastet 9: the cat symbol

Bastet was represented with a symbol of cat when the ancient Egyptians loved cats a lot. During the 1st millennium BC, many people loved to have domesticated cats to keep at home. Then the cats were considered as a sacred animal in the second millennium BC. Get facts about Big Cats here.

Facts about Bastet 10: the festival

The festival to honor Bastet was conducted too in ancient Egypt. There were around 700,000 visitors who came to see the Bubastis festival. The great sacrifices were made. Men and women would drink wine, dance, sing and play music.