Printer Friendly
Dictionary, Encyclopedia and Thesaurus - The Free Dictionary
1,738,656,733 visitors served.
forum mailing list For webmasters
?
New: Language forums
Dictionary/
thesaurus
Medical
dictionary
Legal
dictionary
Financial
dictionary
Acronyms
 
Idioms
Encyclopedia
Wikipedia
encyclopedia
?

Bastet

   Also found in: Dictionary/thesaurus, Wikipedia, Hutchinson 0.04 sec.

Bastet

 or Bast or Ubasti

Enlarge picture
Bastet, cat-headed goddess of Bubastis, statuette, 22nd–25th dynasty; in the British Museum
(credit: Reproduced by courtesy of the trustees of the British Museum)
In Egyptian religion, a goddess worshiped first as a lioness and later as a cat. Her nature changed after the domestication of the cat c. 1500 BC. She had cults at Bubastis in the Nile delta and at Memphis. In the Late and Ptolemaic periods, large cemeteries of mummified cats were created at both sites, and thousands of bronze statuettes of the goddess were deposited as votive offerings. Bastet is represented as a lioness or a woman with a cat's head, usually holding a bag, a breastplate, and a sistrum (wire rattle). The Romans carried her cult to Italy.



How to thank TFD for its existence? Tell a friend about us, add a link to this page, add the site to iGoogle, or visit webmaster's page for free fun content.
?Page tools
Printer friendly
Cite / link
 Email
Feedback
? Mentioned in ? References in periodicals archive
 
Cult evokes prehistoric standing stone circles as well as hieratic Egyptian cat sculpture-in ancient Egypt, the cat goddess Bastet was the patroness of family happiness.
Marion Coutts. (Reviews: London) by Hall, James / Artforum International
Mindful of the imperial lineage of Cairo's felines, Chittock photographed tabbies posing next to plaster statuettes of the lion-headed goddess Sekhmet and the catheaded Bastet.
Cats of Cairo: Egypt's Enduring Legacy by Twair, Pat McDonnell / Washington Report on Middle East Affairs
Each urn is topped with an exquisite head that is an interpretation of figures from Egyptian mythology - the sloe-eyed cat-goddess Bastet and the dignified canine deity, Anubis.
URN BECOMES HER PET PROJECT by Daily News (Los Angeles, CA)
More results
 
Encyclopedia browser? ? Full browser
 
 
Encyclopedia
?

Disclaimer | Privacy policy | Feedback | Copyright © 2009 Farlex, Inc.
All content on this website, including dictionary, thesaurus, literature, geography, and other reference data is for informational purposes only. This information should not be considered complete, up to date, and is not intended to be used in place of a visit, consultation, or advice of a legal, medical, or any other professional. Terms of Use.