Bastet biography for kids wikipedia

Her name also is rendered as B'sst , Baast , Ubaste , and Baset. Bastet was worshipped in Bubastis in Lower Egypt , originally as a lioness goddess, a role shared by other deities such as Sekhmet. Eventually Bastet and Sekhmet were characterized as two aspects of the same goddess, with Sekhmet representing the powerful warrior and protector aspect and Bastet, who increasingly was depicted as a cat , representing a gentler aspect.

Bastet, the form of the name that is most commonly adopted by Egyptologists today. What the name of the goddess means remains uncertain. The name of the material known as alabaster might, through Greek, come from the name of the goddess.

Bastet and sekhmet

This association would have come about much later than when the goddess was a protective lioness goddess, however, and is useful only in deciphering the origin of the term, alabaster. James P. Bastet was originally a fierce lioness warrior goddess of the sun worshipped throughout most of ancient Egyptian history, but later she became the cat goddess that is familiar today.

She then was depicted as the daughter of Ra and Isis , and the consort of Ptah , with whom she had a son Maahes. As protector of Lower Egypt , she was seen as defender of the king , and consequently of the sun god, Ra. She has been depicted as fighting the evil snake named Apep , an enemy of Ra. In addition to her solar connections, she was also related to Wadjet, one of the oldest Egyptian goddesses from the Southern Delta who was dubbed "eye of the moon".

Bastet pronunciation

Bastet was also a goddess of pregnancy and childbirth, possibly because of the fertility of the domestic cat. Images of Bastet were often created from alabaster. The goddess was sometimes depicted holding a ceremonial sistrum in one hand and an aegis in the other—the aegis usually resembling a collar or gorget, embellished with a lioness head.