You’ve seen the statues. Sleek, black basalt carvings of a sitting cat, maybe wearing a gold hoop earring or a beaded collar. They’re everywhere from high-end museum gift shops to cheap roadside stalls in Cairo. But if you ask the average person what was Bastet the god of, they’ll usually just shrug and say, "Cats, right?"
Well, yeah. Sorta.
But reducing Bastet to just a "cat goddess" is like saying the sun is just a "bright light." It misses the point entirely. In the complex, often terrifying world of Ancient Egypt, Bastet wasn't just a pet lover's deity; she was a massive cultural powerhouse whose role shifted from a bloodthirsty lioness to a domestic protector over thousands of years. She was about protection. She was about pleasure. She was about the literal survival of the household.
The Transformation from Lioness to House Cat
It’s a bit of a shock to realize that Bastet didn't start out as a cuddly tabby. Originally, in the Early Dynastic period, she was depicted as a fierce lioness. Think less "purring on a lap" and more "ripping the throat out of the Pharaoh’s enemies."
She was a solar deity.
As the daughter of Ra, she was one of the goddesses who took on the title of the "Eye of Ra." This wasn't a metaphorical eye. It was a literal entity of destruction sent out by the sun god to punish humanity when they got out of line. Honestly, the early version of Bastet was nearly indistinguishable from Sekhmet, the terrifying lioness goddess of war and plague.
So, what happened?
Geography and politics changed things. As the Egyptian pantheon evolved, particularly during the Middle Kingdom, the two goddesses began to diverge. Sekhmet stayed the warrior, the one who handled the "scorching heat" of the sun. Bastet, meanwhile, softened. She became the goddess of the gentle heat of the sun. She swapped the lion's mane for the pointed ears of the Felis lybica, the North African wildcat.
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This wasn't just a branding change. It reflected a shift in how Egyptians viewed their world. The wild, untamable desert was Sekhmet's domain. The home, the hearth, and the fertile Nile Valley? That belonged to Bastet.
What Was Bastet the God Of? More Than Just Furry Friends
If we’re being precise, Bastet’s "portfolio" was massive. She covered things that, to us, seem totally unrelated.
Protection of the Home: This is the big one. In a world where a cobra in your grain bin meant a slow, painful death for your kids, a cat wasn't a luxury. It was a security system. Because cats killed snakes and rodents, Bastet became the spiritual shield against all unseen evils lurking in the corners of a house.
Fertility and Childbirth: This is where it gets interesting. Archaeologists have found thousands of small Bastet amulets showing a cat with a litter of kittens. Women wore these to help them conceive and to protect them during the incredibly dangerous process of giving birth. She was the "Great Mother."
Perfume and Ointments: Ever wonder why "Bastet" sounds a bit like "alabaster"? It’s not a coincidence. The name B’sst is linked to the sealed jars used to hold expensive perfumes and ointments. Because she was a goddess of physical pleasure and beauty, she naturally became the patron of the cosmetics industry. Imagine her as the patron saint of skincare.
Music and Dance: In her "Bast" form, she’s often shown holding a sistrum—a sacred rattle. She loved a good party. Her festivals were legendary for being the loudest, rowdiest events in the Egyptian calendar.
The Wild Parties of Bubastis
Herodotus, the Greek historian who was basically the world's first travel blogger, wrote about the festival of Bastet at her cult center, Bubastis. He claimed that over 700,000 people would travel there by boat.
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It sounds like ancient Coachella.
According to his accounts (which might be a bit exaggerated, he loved a tall tale), more wine was consumed during this one festival than in the rest of the year combined. People played flutes, clapped their hands, and shouted at the villagers they passed on the riverbanks. It was a celebration of life, vitality, and the "female" energy of the universe.
The Mystery of the Cat Mummies
You can’t talk about Bastet without talking about the mummies. At sites like Saqqara and Bubastis, excavations have revealed literal millions of mummified cats.
For a long time, we thought these were just beloved pets being buried with their owners.
They weren't.
Most of these cats were bred specifically for sacrifice. It sounds harsh to us today, but for a devotee of Bastet, "sending" a cat to the goddess was a way to deliver a message or a prayer. These cats were often killed quite young, mummified with incredible care, and sold to pilgrims who would then place them in catacombs as an offering. It was a massive industry. Think of it as the ancient equivalent of lighting a candle in a cathedral, except the candle has whiskers and a soul.
Why the "Cat Goddess" Label is Misleading
When we ask what was Bastet the god of, we tend to project our modern "crazy cat lady" vibes onto her. But for the Egyptians, the cat was a symbol of duality.
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A cat is perfectly still one moment and a blur of violence the next. It’s graceful but deadly. It’s independent but lives within the home. This duality is exactly what Bastet represented. She was the "Lady of Dread" and the "Lady of Slaughter" when she needed to be, but also the "Mistress of the West" who welcomed the dead into the afterlife with grace.
She protected the Pharaoh. In the Pyramid Texts, there are references to the King having been "conceived by Sekhmet" but "born of Bastet." It's that transition from raw, destructive power to the structured, nurturing power of civilization.
Misconceptions to Toss Out
- She wasn't "The Moon Goddess": This is a later Greek interpretation. The Greeks loved to match their gods to Egyptian ones (Interpretatio Graeca), so they linked Bastet to Artemis. Since Artemis was a moon goddess, people started thinking Bastet was too. In reality, she was almost always a solar deity.
- She wasn't just for women: While she was heavily associated with "feminine" spheres like childbirth and perfume, men worshipped her too. Everyone wanted their house to be safe from scorpions. Everyone wanted a bit of her "protection" energy.
- She didn't always have a cat head: In early art, she's purely a lioness. Later, she's a woman with a cat's head. Occasionally, she's just a regular woman. The "cat" part is a mask for a much deeper, more complex force of nature.
How Bastet Influences Us Today
It’s wild how much of her DNA is still in our culture. The trope of the "catwoman"—a female figure who is both alluring and dangerous—traces its lineage straight back to the bronze statues of Bubastis.
We still see the cat as a guardian. We still associate them with a sort of mystical, "otherworldly" knowledge. When you see a cat staring at a "blank" wall and you joke that they're seeing a ghost, you're tapping into a 4,000-year-old Egyptian belief that cats could see into the Duat (the underworld).
Bastet was the god of the domesticated fire. She took the terrifying, scorching heat of the sun and the raw violence of the lioness and tamed it, bringing it inside the house to keep the family warm and safe.
Actionable Ways to Explore Bastet Further
If you’re genuinely interested in the "Real" Bastet, don't just look at the statues.
- Check out the Brooklyn Museum’s "Divine Felines" digital collection. They have some of the best-preserved Bastet artifacts in the world, and their descriptions provide actual historical context rather than "woo-woo" mythology.
- Read the actual accounts from Herodotus. Book II of his Histories covers his time in Egypt. Just take his numbers with a grain of salt; the man loved a good "700,000 people" statistic.
- Look for the "Sistrum." When looking at art, find the rattle she holds. It’s the key to understanding her role as a goddess of joy and vibration, not just a silent guardian.
- Visit a local botanical garden. Look for the papyrus and lotus plants often depicted around her. Seeing the physical environment she "lived" in helps ground the mythology in reality.
Bastet wasn't just a god of cats. She was the god of making life worth living—protecting the home, celebrating with friends, and finding beauty in the scent of a perfume or the sound of a rattle. She was the fierce protector who learned how to purr, but never forgot how to hunt.