Sekhmet of the Boat, the wicked fear thee Trampling down all evil and all strife. They do this whenever they come alongside any riverside town. Herodotus is the primary source for information on the cult of Bastet and, unfortunately, does not go into great detail on the particulars of her worship. If you are interested in the great Goddess Sekhmet and also Bast … The Greeks associated her closely with their goddess Artemis and believed that, as Artemis had a twin brother (Apollo) so should Bast. She was married to Ptah, the god of healing.They balanced each other. Commonly referred to as the violent and aggressive manifestation of the Eye of Ra, Sekhmet had a sister called Hathor.Unlike Sekhmet, Hathor was a gentler peace-loving goddess. In time, as Bastet became more of a familial companion, she lost all trace of her lionine form and was regularly depicted as a house cat or a woman with the head of a cat often holding a sistrum. Geraldine Pinch, citing Herodotus, claims, "women were freed from all constraints during the annual festival at Bubastis. In ancient Greek religion, she was known as Ailuros (Koinē Greek: αἴλουρος "cat"). Some Rights Reserved (2009-2021) under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license unless otherwise noted. Ra, the first pharaoh and king of the gods, was initially a wise and just ruler. The popularity of Bastet grew from her role as protector of women and the household. For punish meant, he decided to send his daughter, Hathor, in the form of a lioness which became Sekhmet. Hello, Sign in. Geraldine Pinch concludes that Taboubu is a "manifestation of Bastet herself, playing her traditional role of punisher of humans who have offended the gods" (117). Wilkinson, commenting on her universal popularity, writes: Amulets of cats and litters of kittens were popular New Year gifts, and the name of Bastet was often inscribed on small ceremonial 'New Year flasks', probably to evoke the goddess as a bestower of fertility and because Bastet, like other lioness goddesses, was viewed as a protective deity able to counter the darker forces associated with the 'Demon Days' at the end of the Egyptian year. Account & Lists Account Returns & Orders. Since the Second Dynasty, Bastet was worshiped as a deity, most commonly in Lower Egypt. Herodotus presents a vivid picture of the people traveling to Bubastis for the festival: When the people are on their way to Bubastis, they go by river, a great number in every boat, men and women together. The main character of the Setna tales is Prince Setna Khaemwas who is based on the actual prince and High Priest of Ptah Khaemweset (c. 1281 - c. 1225 BCE), the son of Ramesses II. The popularity of this goddess, however, made her celebration of particular significance in Egyptian culture. Sekhmet was associated both with disease and with healing and medicine. Other names of the Festival of Bast include, Procession of Bast or Bast Guards the Two Lands. Â, Bastets & Sekhmetsby Kotomi Yamamura (CC BY-NC-SA). Bastetby Trustees of the British Museum (Copyright). 506 likes. The people of Egypt came annually to the great festival of Bastet at Bubastis which was one of the most lavish and popular events of the year. She was the warrior daughter and defender of Ra, who sent her to fight his archenemy Apep. The Egyptians refused to fight for fear of harming the animals and offending Bastet and so surrendered. She was the daughter of the sun god Ra and is associated with the concept of the Eye of Ra (the all-seeing eye) and the Distant Goddess (a female deity who leaves Ra and returns to bring transfromation). Scholar Geraldine Pinch writes: From the Pyramid Texts onward, Bastet has a double aspect of nurturing mother and terrifying avenger. The goddess was worshipped primarily at Bubastis but held a tutelary position at Saqqara and elsewhere. The main cult centre of this deity was the city of Bubastis - Tell Basta - in the eastern Delta, and although only the outlines of the temple of Bastet now remain, Herodotus visited the site in the 5th century BC and praised it for its magnificence. (178), Bastet was so popular that, in 525 BCE, when Cambyses II of Persia invaded Egypt, he made use of the goddess to force the Egyptian's surrender. A stone wall, carven with figures, runs round it; within is a grove of very tall trees growing round a great shrine, wherein is the image of the goddess; the temple is a square, each side measuring a furlong. Considered as the goddess of warfare in Lower Egypt, ‘Bast’ was known as ‘Sekhmet’ in Upper Egypt, who was also a lioness deity of warfare. 04 Jan 2021. I really loved this book for many reasons. Bastet is sometimes rendered in art with a litter of kittens at her feet but her most popular depiction is of a sitting cat gazing ahead. Setna travels to her villa where he is eager to get to the business at hand but Taboubu has some stipulations. Setna agrees to this also and sends for his children. (System Lord Plot Hooks) They were roughly 6.5 feet tall, with short soft fur covering their bodies. To stop her, Ra offered her a beer mixed in with red dye, to make it look like blood. In some versions, she wakes up to see Ptah, God of creation and fertility, and falls in love. "Bastet." When the people of ancient Egypt rebelled against him, Ra claimed they plotted against him, and sent Hathor to punish humanity, but her bloodlust transformed her into Sekhmet. Ancient History Encyclopedia. The goddess Bastet has been associated with Nefertum, the god of perfume and sweet things. In Bastet's association with Mau, she is sometimes seen destroying the enemy of Ra, Apophis, by slicing off his head with a knife in her paw; an image Mau is best known by. Herodotus describes this temple: Save for the entrance, it stands on an island; two separate channels approach it from the Nile, and after coming up to the entry of the temple, they run round it on opposite sides; each of them a hundred feet wide, and overshadowed by trees. He plucked out his eye, which formed into a terrifying lion-headed goddess. One spell advises pretending to be the 'son of Bastet' in order to avoid catching the plague. She is believed to protect the pharaoh during war as the warrior goddess of Upper Egypt. License. Ancient History Encyclopedia. The most obvious understanding would be that, originally, the name meant something like She of the Ointment Jar (Ubaste) and the Greeks changed the meaning to Soul of Isis as they associated her with the most popular goddess in Egypt. Sekhmet & Bastet by Lesley Jackson. This association was carried on in depictions of Bastet's son Maahes, protector of the innocent, who is shown as a lion-headed man carrying a long knife or as a lion. Sekhmet, the eye of the Sun God Ra, is “the mighty one”, the Goddess of the hot noontime sun, is one of the most powerful Goddesses of Egypt. Ancient History Encyclopedia Limited is a non-profit company registered in the United Kingdom. Bastet was the daughter of Ra, sister of Sekhmet, the wife of Ptah, and the mother of Mihos. This license lets others remix, tweak, and build upon this content non-commercially, as long as they credit the author and license their new creations under the identical terms. The scholar Richard H. Wilkinson comments on this: In her earliest known form, as depicted on stone vessels of the 2nd dynasty, Bastet was represented as a woman with the maneless head of a lioness. Sekhmet & Bastet: The Feline Powers of Egypt is a detailed study of the history, mythology, symbolism and worship of the lion and cat goddesses of Ancient Egypt. She bears the Uraeus, which associates her … (Histories, II.138). Please note that content linked from this page may have different licensing terms. She protected the home from evil spirits and disease, especially diseases associated with women and children. The Egyptians were undeterred in their veneration of the cat and their worship of Bastet, however.  Her status as one of the most popular and potent deities continued throughout the remainder of Egypt's history and on into the era of the Roman Empire until, like the other gods, she was eclipsed by the rise of Christianity.Â, Related Content Setna instantly agrees to this; his children are murdered and their bodies thrown into the street. It is the demonic aspect that mainly features in the Coffin Texts and the Book of the Dead and in medical spells. In the myth, Sekhmet came to being after Ra gazed upon the earth. In some renditions of the story, Bastet killed Apep in the night in her cat form. Just like Mafdet, the feline protector of the pharaoh’s chambers, and the ferocious Sekhmet, the lioness who destroyed his enemies, Bast has been seen as the one who mothered the king and protected him.. This association was carried on in depictions of Bastet's son Maahes, protector of the innocent… In Egyptian art, her iconography borrowed from the earlier goddess Mafdet and also from Hathor, a goddess associated with Sekhmet who was also closely linked to Bastet. Setna then pulls off his clothes, takes Taboubu, and leads her quickly to the bedroom. Mother of the gods, no gods existed Till thou camest there and gave them life. The temple is in the midst of the city, the whole circuit of which commands a view down into it; for the city's level has been raised, but that of the temple has been left as it was from the first, so that it can be seen into from without. Mark, Joshua J. First, she tells him, he must sign over all his property and possessions to her. Designate a shelf, tabletop, or credenza as Bastet’s altar. With the documents signed he again moves toward her but, no, she has a third demand: his children must be killed so that they will not try to renege on the agreement and embroil her in a long, drawn-out court battle. She drank it and passed out, sleeping for three whole days. Like other fierce goddesses in the Egyptian pantheon, she was called the “Eye of Re.” The most dominant role of Bastet is similar to some other feline goddesses – and that is protection of the king. The only difference is that Bastet is the mild heat from the sun, while Sekhmet is the vicious heat. It is suggested that Bastet enjoyed … While she's not the only cat goddess from ancient history, Bastet is probably the most famous cat goddess today. As noted, she was as popular among men as women in that every man had a mother, sister, girlfriend, wife, or daughter who benefited from the care Bastet provided. The appearance of the sistrum in Bastet's hand in some statues is a clear link to Hathor who is traditionally seen carrying the instrument. Since she is the goddess of destruction and him of creation, they became symbol of healing and reestablished balance. It was believed that her breath created the desert.Sometimes known as sister to Bastet/Bast, a goddess who protected pregnant women and children. Her name was originally B'sst which became Ubaste, then Bast, then Bastet; the meaning of this name is not known or, at least, not universally agreed upon. When Apep had the upper hand, earthquakes and storms occurred. Her form and powers changed over the years. (2016, July 24). Even so, scholars have come to no agreement on the meaning of her name. Bastet. Bastet or Bast (Ancient Egyptian: bꜣstjt, Coptic: Ⲟⲩⲃⲁⲥⲧⲉ /ʔuːˈβastə/) was a goddess of ancient Egyptian religion, worshiped as early as the Second Dynasty (2890 BCE).