Bastet the Cat Goddess of Egypt

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Bastet as Part Lioness

Egyptian people in ancient times had a Cat Goddess.  She was known as the daughter of Ra the king of the gods.  Her name was Bastet.  Up until 1,000 BC she was portrayed as part woman and part lioness and associated with the sun.   I thought it was interesting that one statue of her has her holding this staff with a head that looks for all the world like it came from a Pteranodon.   I drew the picture from a photo of the above mentioned statue of her, and her staff looks like it has a Pteranodon head on it. So, maybe the ancient Egyptians found a Pteranodon skull. There were several statues with this "Pteranodon" skull on Bastet's staff. Although maybe being a paleontology fanatic I see evidences of fossil finds everywhere.

Pteranodon Fishing

(Notice how the head looks like Bastet's staff.)

Bastet The Cat Goddess

(with the head of a cat)

Then, after 1,000 BC, she was often portrayed with the head of a cat and associated with the moon.   Eventually she was only portrayed with the cat head.  Bastet was the goddess of fire, home, cats and pregnant women.  She had a gentle and docile side and a violent side. He gentle side was seen as she cared for the home and pregnant women.  Her violent side was when she was in battle. 

Bubastis was a city in the Nile River Delta region and Bastet was thier local deity.  This is why she is portrayed here by the Nile River.  Bastet was also called the defender of the Pharaoh and of her father Ra.  She could be a vicious warrior in battle.  But she had that mild side too.  In one myth she was the personification of the soul of the goddess Isis.   That would make sense because Isis, the Mother Goddess, was the goddess of marriage, fertility, motherhood, magic and medicine.   Bastet was also called the Lady Of The East.  Another goddess, Sekhment, was Lady Of The West.

Egyptian Relics
(including Bastet as a Cat)

Bastet as a Cat

In our recent trip to Europe we went to the British Museum and the Louvre in Paris.  We also went to the Vatican.  All three had Egyptian relics.  My favorite was the beautifully done cat sculpture.  Scientists at the British Museum found that she, the cat sculpture, was 84.7% copper, 13% tin, 2.1% arsenic, and 0.2% lead. This black cat sculpture above represents one form in which  Bastet was supposed to be able to appear.