TYPE: Feline goddess associated with the vengeance of the sun god.
ORIGIN: Egyptian
KNOWN PERIOD OF WORSHIP: Circa 2700 BCE to the end of Egyptian history (circa 400 CE)
SYNONYMS: None
CENTER(S) OF CULT: Bubastis in the Delta region of Lower Egypt and probably at the Karnak temple complex in Upper Egypt.
ART REFERENCES: Sculptures, wall paintings, papyrus illustrations.
LITERARY SOURCES: Middle Kingdom coffin texts, etc.
SYMBOL: Lioness, cat, ointment jar, sistrum, solar disk
PARENTS: Ra and Isis
SIBLINGS: Horus and Anhur (half-brother)
CONSORT: Ptah
OFFSPRING: Maahes
INFORMATION: Bastet is the daughter of the sun god Re and is regarded as his instrument of vengeance, the "rage in his eye". Alternatively she is the eldest daughter of Amun. She has a son, the lion-headed god Mihos.
Texts recounting battles may describe the pharaoh's enemies being slaughtered liek the victims of Bastet. Thus she is first depicted as a lioness, and then in the guise of a cat from circa 1000 BCE onward when she becomes more peaceable in character. The cat was considered sacred to her and cat cemeteries, containing mummified animals, have been found at various sites. Her name involves the hieroglyph for a sealed alabaster jar containing perfume. In the sanctuary of Khafre at Giza, her name is engraved on the facade with that of the goddess Hathor, symbolizing the protectresses of the north and south respectively. In Hellenic times she is partly syncretized with Artemis.