The Ancient Egyptian God Of Cats: Bastet

Bastet [Earlier known as 'Bast'] was the ancient Egyptian God of Cats, protection,Joy, dance and love.She was also addressed by the title 'Lady of Flame' and 'The Eye of Ra'.She was one of the most recognised and longest worshipped Goddesses with Egyptian people worshipping Bastet since the third millennium B.C. She was originally known as 'Bast' in Lower Egypt and the Nile Delta region in the third millennium.

Bastet's father is Ra, the son God and her siblings are Tefnut, Shu, Serket,,Hathor,Ammut, Thoth and,according to some accounts, Horus, Anubis, Sekhmet. Bastet's children are said to be Maahes, Khonsu and, according to some accounts Nerfertum. She and her sister, Sekhmet were married to Ptah, the God of rebirth and creation.

Bastet was often depicted as a domestic Cat or a Woman with a head of a cat or a lioness holding a shield depicting a face of a cat in her left hand and a 'Sistrum', a sacred Egyptian musical instrument used in religious festivals and dancing in her right hand. Her depiction as a Domestic Cat relates to her role as the Goddess of domestic cats which were sacred in ancient Egypt. She is often depicted holding a Sistrum as it represents her role as the God of Joy, Music and Festivals. She is occasionally shown holding an Ankh, the Egyptian symbol of Breath, a Papyrus Wand

Cats were sacred in ancient Egypt as they protected crops, hunted for the Egyptians and protected ancient Egyptians from diseases by eating infected vermin. Through this, Bastet indirectly became the protector God of ancient Egypt. Cats were considered holy and cats dressed in jewellery were worshipped in High Temples. Cats were Bastet's sacred animal and killing one was considered unfortunate in ancient Egypt. Cats were much loved pets in ancient Egypt so Bastet became popular amongst ancient