ACTUAL HISTORY OF THE WORSHIP
OF BAST AS FELINE GODDESS

NOTE: Egypt did not have one religion. Each place had its own cult and deities and these were
often merged, associated and so on AFTER the deities were first created. Thus a deity will evolve
into a very different character at the end of the story, and will probably have been confused with
some other similar deities on the way: It is possible to view this as corruption, but is mainly
evolution, and readers should not be confused by any conflicting interpretations given in this section.

The worship of Bast lasted for over 3,000 years, and it changed a lot with time.
She started off as a local deity of the Nile delta, and later on her cult overlapped
those of Isis, Hathor, Mut, and other goddesses according to the locality from
which she was worshipped.

The cat cult, as already said, evolved out of the lion cult, and even though Bast
shared many similarities with Sekhmet and Tefnut (two lion goddesses) and had
a lion god as a son herself, it was under her cat-goddess aspect that she
became one of the most popular goddesses of Egypt. She still maintained her
powers of ferocity, and was still worshipped as a lion goddess, however as a
cat goddess she represented the gentler side of everything, in otherwords, the
gentle lion.

She is first mentioned around the 2nd dynasty. "Bastet, lady of Ankh-taui"
reads the inscription in the 5th dynasty temple wherein was found the earliest
known portrait of Bast. However her cat goddess form is not represented until the
21st dynasty. That would be approximately 1,500 years later.

She had a cult centre in Bubastis, a place today known as Tell-Basta, north of
Giza and on the East side of the Nile delta. Because of this, and because of
Bast’s association with the rising sun, she was called "The Lady of the East".
The temple there, today in ruins, was built in the 12^th dynasty. About a
thousand years later, in 950 BC, she became an immensely powerful goddess,
as the Libyan pharaohs took her over as their protector. Starting with Shesbonq
I they made Bubastis their capital, enriched her temple and built a new shrine at
Thebes.

The cat was admired for virility, strength and agility, three virtues advantageous
to the Pharaoh. Because of these solar qualities Bast was associated with Ra,
and alternatively depicted as his daughter or his wife, by whom she had a son,
Maahes. Priests later on tried to fuse Bast and Sekhmet, and in fact in
ceremonial magic Bast was made part of a tripartite deity called
Sekhmet-Bast-Ra. This is a very unusual combination of male and female
deities, however the figure was used only for symbolism with no temples ever
dedicated to it.

As a state deity in the late period she was viewed as a kindly goddess. Here she
acquired her characteristics from Hathor, also a daughter of Ra. Hathoric
characteristics Bast shares are being the goddess of joy, music and dancing,
but can also be a ferocious goddess when she wants to.

The Pictures, from top to bottom: Sekhmet, Sekhmet, and Bast in her
half-human form.