Bastet ( the Cat Goddess)

Bastet: Goddess of Protection, Fertility, and Cats

Bastet is an ancient Egyptian goddess known for her multiple roles as the goddess of protection, fertility, home, music, and dance, but she is particularly associated with cats. Bastet is typically depicted as a woman with the head of a cat, reflecting both her protective and domesticated aspects.

Roles and Symbols

Bastet was considered a protector of the home and family, revered as a goddess who guarded against evil spirits and diseases. She was also associated with fertility and motherhood, worshipped as a guardian of women and children. Cats played a central role in Bastet’s worship, regarded as incarnations of the goddess on earth.

Myths and Veneration

Originally, Bastet was worshipped as a fierce lioness-headed goddess of war, but over time, she evolved into a more gentle and nurturing figure with a cat’s head. The city of Bubastis was the primary center of her worship, where an annual festival, known as the Festival of Bastet, was held in her honor.

Temples and Icons

Bastet’s temple in Bubastis held great significance, where religious rituals were performed, and sacred cats were kept. These temple cats were considered sacred beings and were meticulously cared for. Numerous statues and carvings depict Bastet with a cat’s head, often accompanied by kittens.

Legacy

Bastet remains a symbol of protection and fertility in Egyptian mythology, and her association with cats reflects the importance of these animals in ancient Egyptian life. Her role as a guardian of the home and family made her one of the most beloved and revered deities in ancient Egypt.

Bastet The daughter of Re, the sund god, Bastet was an ancient deity whose ferocious nature was ameliorated after the domestication of the cat around 1500 BCE. She was native to Bubastit in the Nile River delta but also had an important cult at Memphis. In the Late and Ptolemaic periods large cemeteries of mummified cats were created at both sites, and thousands of bronze statuettes of the goddess were deposited as votive offerings. Small figures of cats were also worn as amulets; this too was probably

Bastet Represented as a woman with a cat’s head, Bastet carries an ancient percussion instrument, the sistrum, in her right hand; a so-called aegis, or breastplate (in Bastet’s case, surmounted with the head of a lioness), in her left hand; and a small bag over her left arm. She wears an elaborately ornamented dress. Her cult was carried to Italy by the Romans, and traces have been found in Rome, Ostia, Nemi, and Pompeii.

Tall-Basta (Bubastit).

Bubastit, ancient Egyptian city in the Nile River delta north of Cairo. It became important when the pharaohs of the 19th dynasty (1292–1190 BCE) moved their capital from Thebes to the delta, and it reached its peak of prosperity when its prince, Sheshonk I (the biblical Shishak, reigned 945–924 BCE), became pharaoh. The city’s god was the cat-headed Bastet, whose festival was among the most revelrous in Egypt.

Holy Family in Tall-Basta

The Holy Family headed from Al-Farma to Tell Basta, and they entered the city on the 24th of Bashans, which corresponds to the first of June.

As they were rest from traveling, the Child Jesus asked the Virgin Mary to drink, so she carried Him in her arms and headed to the village, but the people there did receive them well, and they were hard-hearted towards them. The Virgin Mary suffered and she returned sadly with the Child Jesus without drinking.

Saint Joseph the Carpenter rose and took a piece of iron – which is believed to be one of the carpentry tools that he brought to work with in Egypt and support his family – and he hit the ground next to the tree. As he was trying to dig the ground, a fresh water spring blew up, from which they all drank and filled their empty water bottles.

His Eminence Anba Gregory, Bishop of the General of Theological Studies and Scientific Research (1967-2001) mentioned about the way the spring came out, that “when the people of the city refused to give water to the boy, she suffered and began to cry, and when Jesus saw her crying, he wiped her tears with his two small hands, then drew a circle on the ground. Immediately, a spring erupted which was sweet like honey and white as snow, and the Lord Jesus put His pure hands in the water and said: “Whoever comes and bathes in the water of this well on this day every year will be cured of all his diseases, and let it be for aid, health, and healing of the souls and bodies of those who drink from it.”

The family did not find anyone to offer them food or drink, except for a man named “Quloum”, who knew their story and was full of wonder when he saw the spring of water next to them, as he knows the place well. So, he invited them to his house showing generous hospitality, but his wife was sick and bedridden. When they entered her place, the Lord Jesus healed her and called her by her name saying, “Come and sit with us.”

They stayed at Quloum’s place for a period of time, and one day the wife of St. Quloum took the Virgin and the Child Jesus to show them the great temple in the city and its huge statues. When they entered the temple, the granite statue of the goddess Bastet was immediately demolished, in order to fulfill the prophecy of the prophet Isaiah: “Behold, the Lord is riding on a swift cloud and coming to Egypt, and the idols of Egypt will tremble at his face.” (Isaiah 19:1)

When the priests learned that there is a power in this child and that their source of living from serving idols will end, they went to the governor of the city, who got angry and ordered the killing of the boy, whose authority caused the destruction of the statues of the gods that the Egyptians worshiped. Since then, the people refused the presence of the Holy Family there and tried to arrest them, but Quloum told Saint Joseph to get up and leave the place, because he feared for them from the people of the area.

The Child Jesus blessed Quloum’s house by saying: “Peace and blessing will be upon your house all the days of your life for receiving us and for all you have done for us, and my name will perpetuate on this house forever.” He told the Virgin Mary that in every place he would visit, there will be a church built on her name. In accordance with this, a church was built in the name of the Virgin Mary in the fourth century in place of Quloum’s house, and later the Church of Martyr George was built in that place.