FACTOID # 159: Taiwan and Luxembourg are the only countries in the world where the mobile phones outnumber the people!
 
 Home   Encyclopedia   Statistics   Countries A-Z   Flags   Maps   Education   Forum   FAQ   About 
 
 
 
WHAT'S NEW
RECENT ARTICLES
More Recent Articles »
 

SEARCH ALL

FACTS & STATISTICS    Advanced view

Search encyclopedia, statistics and forums:

 

 

(* = Graphable)

 

 


Encyclopedia > Bast (goddess)
Bast
in hieroglyphs

In Egyptian mythology, Bast (also spelt Ubasti, and Pasht) is an ancient goddess, worshipped at least since the Second Dynasty, for whom the centre of her cult was in Per-Bast (Bubastis in greek), which was named after her. Originally she was viewed as the protector goddess of Lower Egypt, and consequently depicted as a fierce lion. Indeed, her name means (female) devourer. As protectress, she was seen as defender of the pharaoh, and consequently of the chief god, Ra, who was a solar deity, gaining her the titles Lady of flame, and Eye of Ra . Hieroglyphs on an Egyptian funerary stela Hieroglyphs at the Memphis museum with Ramses II statue on the back. ... Egyptian mythology or Egyptian religion is the succession of tentative beliefs held by the people of Egypt for over three thousand years, prior to major exposure to Christianity and Islam. ... Ceres, the Roman goddess of agriculture A goddess is a female deity, in contrast with a male deity known as a god. A great many cultures have goddesses, sometimes alone, but more often as part of a larger pantheon that includes both of the conventional genders and in some cases... History of Ancient Egypt Second Dynasty The names of the actual rulers of the Second Dynasty are in dispute. ... In religion and sociology, a cult is a cohesive group of people (often a relatively small and new religious movement) devoted to beliefs or practices that the surrounding culture or society considers to be far outside the mainstream. ... Bubastis is an Ancient Egyptian city, located along the River Nile in the Delta region of Lower Egypt. ... Map of Upper and Lower Egypt Ancient Egypt was divided into two kingdoms, known as Upper and Lower Egypt. ... Pharaoh (Hebrew פַּרְעֹה (without niqqud: פרעה), Standard Hebrew Parʿo, Tiberian Hebrew Parʿōh, Arabic فرعون) is a title used to refer to the kings (of godly status) in ancient Egypt. ... , , or This article is about the Egyptian god. ... The Trundholm sun chariot pulled by a horse is believed to be a sculpture illustrating an important part of Nordic Bronze Age mythology. ... This article is about the Egyptian god. ...

Bastet
in hieroglyphs

Later scribes sometimes named her Bastet, a variation on Bast consisting of an additional feminine suffix to the one already present, thought to have been added to emphasise pronunciation. Since Bastet would literally mean (female) of the ointment jar, Bast gradually became thought of as the goddess of perfumes, earning the title perfumed protector. In connection with this, when Anubis became the god of embalming, Bast, as goddess of ointment, became thought of as his mother, although this association was broken in later years, when Anubis became thought of as Nephthys' son. Hieroglyphs on an Egyptian funerary stela Hieroglyphs at the Memphis museum with Ramses II statue on the back. ... The word feminine can refer to: the property of being biologically female femininity, a traditionally female gender role the feminine grammatical gender This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Suffix has meanings in linguistics, nomenclature and computer science. ... Pronunciation refers to: the way a word or a language is usually spoken; the manner in which someone utters a word. ... Anubis, is the Greek name for the ancient god in Egyptian mythology whose hieroglyphic is more accurately spelt Anpu (also Anup, Anupu, Wip, Ienpw, Inepu, Yinepu, or Inpw). ... In Egyptian mythology, Nephthys (spelt Nebet-het, and Nebt-het, in transliteration from hieroglyphs) is one of the Ennead of Heliopolis, a daughter of Nuit and Geb, and the wife of Set. ...

Bast as a lioness
Bast as a lioness

This gentler characteristic, of goddess of perfumes, together with Lower Egypt's position as the loser in the wars between Upper & Lower Egypt, lead to her ferocity being gradually toned down. Thus by the Middle Kingdom, she had come to be thought of as a domestic cat rather than a lion, although occasionally, she would be depicted holding a lionness mask, hinting at supressed ferocity. Since domestic cats tend to be quite tender, and protective, toward their children, she was also thought of as a good mother, and sometimes became depicted with numerous (unidentified) kittens. Consequently, a woman who wanted children would sometimes wear an amulet depicting Bast, as a cat, with kittens, the number of which indicated her own desired amount of children. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (449x800, 60 KB) Description French: Bastet. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (449x800, 60 KB) Description French: Bastet. ... The Middle Kingdom is a period in the history of ancient Egypt stretching from the establishment of the Eleventh Dynasty to the end of the Fourteenth Dynasty, roughly between 1991 BC and 1648 BC. The Eleventh Dynasty The Middle Kingdom has been usually dated to the time when Pharaoh Mentuhotep... Trinomial name Felis silvestris catus Schreber, 1775 For alternative meanings see cat (disambiguation). ... A kitten. ...


Due to the severe disaster to the food supply that could be caused by simple vermin such as mice and rats, and their ability to fight and kill snakes, especially Cobras, Cats in Egypt were revered heavily, sometimes being given golden jewelery to wear, and being allowed to eat from the same plates as their owners. Consequently, as the main cat (rather than lion) deity, Bast was strongly revered as the patron of cats, and thus it was in the temple at Per-Bast that dead (and mummified) cats were brought for burial. Over 300,000 mummified cats were discovered when Bast's temple at per-Bast was excavated. The bane of Australian farmers - the wild rabbit Mouse Vermin is a term given to animals which are considered by humans to be pests or nuisances, most associated with the carrying of disease. ... Superfamilies and Families Henophidia Aniliidae Anomochilidae Boidae Bolyeriidae Cylindrophiidae Loxocemidae Pythonidae Tropidophiidae Uropeltidae Xenopeltidae Typhlopoidea Anomalepididae Leptotyphlopidae Typhlopidae Xenophidia Acrochordidae Atractaspididae Colubridae Elapidae Hydrophiidae Viperidae Snakes are cold blooded legless reptiles closely related to lizards, which share the order Squamata. ... Cobra or cobra or COBRA may refer to: Cobra (snake), a venomous snake. ... Cats (Felis catus) are among the most common pets in the world. ... The word mummification has more than one meaning: The process of preparing a dead body for preservation; or the preservation of a body through natural processes; see: Mummy The practice of restraining a living body as part of a sexual bondage experience: see mummification (bondage). ... For excavation in civil engineering see earthworks (engineering). ...


As a cat/lion goddess, and protector of the lands, when, during the New Kingdom, the fierce lion god Maahes became part of Egyptian mythology, she was identified, in the Lower Kingdom, as his mother. This paralleled the identification of the fierce lion goddess Sekhmet, as his mother in the Upper Kingdom. The New Kingdom is the period in Egyptian history between the 16th century BCE and the 11th century BCE, covering the Eighteenth, Nineteenth, and Twentieth Dynasties of Egypt. ... In Egyptian mythology, Maahes (also spelt Mihos, Miysis, and Mahes) was a lion-god. ... Egyptian mythology or Egyptian religion is the succession of tentative beliefs held by the people of Egypt for over three thousand years, prior to major exposure to Christianity and Islam. ... Sekhmet In Egyptian mythology, Sekhmet (also spelt Sachmet, Sakhet, and Sakhmet), was originally the war goddess of Upper Egypt, although when the first Pharaoh of the 12th dynasty moved the capital of Egypt to Memphis, her cult centre moved as well. ... Map of Upper and Lower Egypt Ancient Egypt was divided into two kingdoms, known as Upper and Lower Egypt. ...


As divine mother, and more especially as protectress, for Lower Egypt, she became strongly associated with Wadjet, the patron goddess of Lower Egypt, eventually becoming Wadjet-Bast, paralleling the similar pair of patron (Nekhbet) and lioness protector (Sekhmet) for Upper Egypt. Eventually, her position as patron and protector of Lower Egypt, lead to her being identified as the more substantial goddess Mut, whose cult had risen to power with that of Amun, and eventually being absorbed into her as Mut-Wadjet-Bast. Shortly after, Mut also absorbed the identities of the Sekhmet-Nekhbet pairing as well. In Egyptian mythology, Buto (papyrus colored--referring to the color of the cobra) was a snake (especially cobra) goddess and patron of the oracle in the city of the same name. ... In Egyptian mythology, Nekhbet (of Nekheb) was an early, predynastic, local vulture-goddess, patron of the city of Nekheb. ... In Egyptian mythology, Mut (mother) is the patron goddess of Thebes. ... Amun (also spelt Amon, Amoun, Amen, and rarely Imenand, and spelt in Greek as Ammon, and Hammon) was the name of a deity, in Egyptian mythology, who gradually rose to become one of the most important, before disappearing back into the shadows. ...


This merging of identities of similar goddesses has lead to considerable confusion, leading to some associating things such as the title Mistress of the Sistrum (more properly belonging to Hathor, who had become thought of as an aspect of Isis, as had Mut), and the idea of her as a lunar goddess (more properly an attribute of Mut). Indeed, much of this confusion occurred to subsequent generations, as the identities slowly merged, leading to the Greeks, who sometimes named her Ailuros (Greek for cat), thinking of Bast as a version of Artemis, their own moon goddess. And thus, to fit their own cosmology, to the Greeks, Bast was thought of as the sister of Horus, who they identified as Apollo (Artemis' brother), and consequently the daughter of Isis and Osiris. A sistrum is a musical instrument of the percussion family, chiefly associated with ancient Egypt. ... Statue of Hathor (Luxor Museum) // The divine waterway In Egyptian mythology, Hathor (Egyptian for house of Horus) was originally a personification of the Milky Way, which was seen as the milk that flowed from the udders of a heavenly cow. ... Isis (Greek corruption; the Egyptian is Aset) was originally a goddess from Nubia, and was adopted into Egyptian belief very early. ... The Artemis of Versailles, a Roman copy of a Hellenistic marble sculpture, now at the Louvre Museum. ... Horus is an ancient god of Egyptian mythology, whose cult survived so long that he evolved dramatically over time and gained many names. ... Apollo (Greek: Απόλλων, Apóllōn; Απελλων) is a god in Greek and Roman mythology, the son of Zeus and Leto, and the twin of Artemis (goddess of the hunt), one of the most important and many-sided of the Olympian divinities. ... Osiris (Greek language, also Usiris; the Egyptian language name is variously transliterated Asar, Aser, Ausar, or Ausare) is the Egyptian God of death and the underworld. ...


Bast in Popular Culture

In the Disney movie The Three Lives of Thomasina, the eponymous cat 'dies' during the movie and imagines herself going to cat heaven, presided over by a great statue of the cat goddess. Disney may refer to: The Walt Disney Company and its divisions, including Walt Disney Pictures. ...


In an episode of The West Wing, an unexpected filibuster is blamed, in part, on C.J. Cregg breaking an ancient statue of the goddess Bast. The West Wing is a popular and widely acclaimed American television serial drama created by Aaron Sorkin and produced and co-written by John Wells. ... Claudia Jean C.J. Cregg, White House Chief of Staff (formerly Press Secretary) to Democratic President Josiah Bartlet, is a fictional character, played by Allison Janney on the television serial drama The West Wing. ...


Bast appears as a minor, but influential, character in two of Neil Gaiman's works, The Sandman and American Gods. In Sandman, Bast appears as a friend and confidant of Dream, at one point openly flirting with him although nothing comes of it. In American Gods, she appears at times as a cat living with other Egyptian gods Thoth and Anubis who now survive as small-town morticians, and during the story Bast provides the protagonist Shadow with comfort and protection (for example, using her powers among other cats to keep an eye on him). Neil Gaiman (November 2004) Neil Richard Gaiman () (born November 10, 1960 in Portchester, England) is an English Jewish author of numerous science fiction and fantasy works, including many comic books. ... Cover of The Sandman #1, by Dave McKean. ... American Gods is a novel by Neil Gaiman. ... Cover of The Sandman #1, by Dave McKean. ... Thoth (Ramesseum, Luxor) In Egyptian mythology, Thoth (also spelt Thot or Thout), pronounced tot, is the Greek name given to Djehuty (also spelt Tahuti, Tehuti, Zehuti, Techu, Tetu) - the original pronunciation of his name is disputed, and may have been approximately Tee-HOW-ti -, who was originally the deification of... Anubis, is the Greek name for the ancient god in Egyptian mythology whose hieroglyphic is more accurately spelt Anpu (also Anup, Anupu, Wip, Ienpw, Inepu, Yinepu, or Inpw). ... This article is about the vocation of a mortician and the death metal band; for the World Wrestling Entertainment superstar, see The Undertaker. ...


In the 2004 movie Catwoman the title character's supernatural powers are linked to the goddess Bast.


Bast also apears in a book called Catswold Portals, she is the mother of a speices called catswold humans that turn into cats.


Bastet also appeared as a Goa'uld System Lord in the television series Stargate SG-1


See also

Cats (Felis catus) are among the most common pets in the world. ...

External links


Ankh Topics about Ancient Egypt edit Ankh
Places: Nile river | Niwt/Waset/Thebes | Alexandria | Annu/Iunu/Heliopolis | Luxor | Abdju/Abydos | Giza | Ineb Hedj/Memphis | Djanet/Tanis | Rosetta | Akhetaten/Amarna | Atef-Pehu/Fayyum | Abu/Yebu/Elephantine | Saqqara | Dahshur
Gods associated with the Ogdoad: Amun | Amunet | Huh/Hauhet | Kuk/Kauket | Nu/Naunet | Ra | Hor/Horus | Hathor | Anupu/Anubis | Mut
Gods of the Ennead: Atum | Shu | Tefnut | Geb | Nuit | Ausare/Osiris | Aset/Isis | Set | Nebet Het/Nephthys
War gods: Bast | Anhur | Maahes | Sekhmet | Pakhet
Deified concepts: Chons | Maàt | Hu | Saa | Shai | Renenutet| Min | Hapy
Other gods: Djehuty/Thoth | Ptah | Sobek | Chnum | Taweret | Bes | Seker
Death: Mummy | Four sons of Horus | Canopic jars | Ankh | Book of the Dead | KV | Mortuary temple | Ushabti
Buildings: Pyramids | Karnak Temple | Sphinx | Great Lighthouse | Great Library | Deir el-Bahri | Colossi of Memnon | Ramesseum | Abu Simbel
Writing: Egyptian hieroglyphs | Egyptian numerals | Transliteration of ancient Egyptian | Demotic | Hieratic
Chronology: Ancient Egypt | Greek and Roman Egypt | Early Arab Egypt | Ottoman Egypt | Muhammad Ali and his successors | Modern Egypt

  Results from FactBites:
 
The Goddess Bast (1025 words)
Bast was the goddess of life and family and of the domestic cat, although she sometimes took on the war-like aspect of a lioness.
The main center for the worship of Bast was the city of Bubastis in the delta region of northern Egypt.
Bast, the Goddess of life and family, who had a woman's body and a cat's head, was often depicted as holding in her left hand an amulet of the all-seeing sacred eye, the utchat, believed to have magical powers.
  More results at FactBites »


 
 

COMMENTARY     


Share your thoughts, questions and commentary here
Your name
Your comments

Want to know more?
Search encyclopedia, statistics and forums:

 


Lesson Plans | Student Area | Student FAQ | Reviews | Press Releases |  Feeds | Contact
The Wikipedia article included on this page is licensed under the GFDL.
Images may be subject to relevant owners' copyright.
All other elements are (c) copyright NationMaster.com 2003-5. All Rights Reserved.
Usage implies agreement with terms, 1022, m