Summary
Bastet was the ancient Egyptian cat goddess, protector of the home, women, children and childbirth, and a goddess of joy, music and dance. She began as a fierce lioness goddess and gradually became a gentler goddess shown as a cat or a woman with a cat’s head. Her city, Bubastis in the Nile Delta, held one of the biggest festivals in Egypt, and her worship explains why millions of cats were mummified and why harming a cat was a serious crime.
Who Was Bastet?
Bastet, also called Bast, was a daughter of the sun god Ra. In early times she was a lioness, a warrior who protected the king, close to the fierce Sekhmet. Over time, especially from the first millennium BC, she was shown more and more as a domestic cat, or a woman with a cat’s head, often holding a sistrum (a sacred rattle) with kittens at her feet.
The two goddesses were seen as two sides of one power: Sekhmet the raging lioness, Bastet the calm cat. Read about the other gods in ancient Egyptian gods.
Goddess of the Home
- Protection: as cats kept snakes, rats and mice away from homes and grain stores, Bastet guarded the household against evil and disease.
- Women and children: she watched over pregnancy, childbirth and young children.
- Joy and music: she loved music, dancing and celebration, like Hathor.
- Perfume: her son Mahes was a lion god, and she was linked with perfumes and ointments.
Small bronze cat statues and cat amulets were among the most common objects in Egyptian homes.
The Festival of Bubastis
Bastet’s cult centre was Bubastis (modern Tell Basta, near Zagazig in the Delta). Under the 22nd Dynasty, kings who came from the city made it a royal capital and rebuilt her temple in red granite. The Greek historian Herodotus, who visited in the 5th century BC, described her festival as the greatest in Egypt: crowds arrived by boat from all over the country, singing, clapping and playing flutes, and he claimed that more wine was drunk there than in the rest of the year.
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View This TripSacred Cats and Cat Mummies
Cats were sacred to Bastet, and the Egyptians loved them. When a household cat died, the family shaved their eyebrows in mourning, according to Herodotus. Killing a cat, even by accident, could be punished severely: the Greek historian Diodorus tells of a Roman visitor killed by a crowd after he killed a cat.
At Bubastis and at the Saqqara temple of Bastet (the Bubasteion), archaeologists have found vast cemeteries of mummified cats, offered to the goddess by pilgrims; many were bred in temple catteries for the purpose. Read more in Egyptian mummies and sarcophagi.
Where to See Bastet in Egypt
| Where | What to see |
|---|---|
| Tell Basta (Bubastis), near Zagazig | The ruins of her great temple and the cat cemeteries |
| Saqqara | The Bubasteion, where hundreds of cat mummies and statues have been found since 2018 |
| Egyptian Museum and Grand Egyptian Museum | Bronze cat statues, cat mummies and coffins |
Bastet: FAQ
What is Bastet the goddess of?
The home, women, children and childbirth, protection against evil and disease, and joy, music and dance.
Why were cats sacred in ancient Egypt?
They protected homes and grain from snakes and rodents, and they were the sacred animal of Bastet.
Is Bastet the same as Sekhmet?
They were linked: Sekhmet was the fierce lioness and Bastet the gentle cat, two sides of the same divine power.
Where was Bastet worshipped?
Mainly at Bubastis in the Nile Delta, home of one of the largest festivals in ancient Egypt.
Did the Egyptians mummify cats?
Yes, by the millions, mostly as offerings to Bastet at temples such as Bubastis and Saqqara.
