Bastet est la déesse féline de l'Égypte antique, protectrice du foyer, de la maternité, de la joie et de la musique. Fille du dieu solaire Rê, elle est d'abord figurée en lionne, puis en femme à tête de chatte ou en chatte familière. Son grand centre de culte est Bubastis, dans le delta du Nil, où une fête annuelle attirait des foules de pèlerins.

Pourquoi Bastet est-elle associée au chat ?

Vénérée à l'origine sous les traits d'une lionne, Bastet voit son image s'adoucir au fil des siècles pour devenir la chatte, animal à la fois affectueux et protecteur du foyer contre les serpents et les rongeurs. Sa grande fécondité fait aussi de la chatte un symbole de la maternité. À Bubastis, des centaines de milliers de chats furent embaumés et offerts à la déesse.

Quel lien existe-t-il entre Bastet et Sekhmet ?

Bastet et Sekhmet sont deux déesses félines souvent considérées comme deux faces complémentaires de l'œil de Rê. Sekhmet, la lionne, incarne la fureur destructrice du soleil, tandis que Bastet, devenue la chatte, en représente l'aspect plus doux et protecteur. Cette polarité entre violence et apaisement traverse toute la théologie des déesses dangereuses de l'Égypte antique.

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BAST

ally

The Cat, Keeper of the Hearth

✦ SoulÉgypte antique →Afrique du Nord — ÉgypteElder

Gender: FeminineSign: Chatte / Disque solaire

Bastet is one of the great goddesses of ancient Egypt, the African civilisation of the Nile valley. Attested from the Second Dynasty, she first appears in the form of a lioness, close to other feline goddesses such as Sekhmet, before her image softened from the first millennium BCE onwards into the familiar cat. She is then depicted as a woman with a cat's head holding the sistrum and the aegis, or as a seated cat. Daughter of the sun god Ra, she is counted among the goddesses who act as the Eye of Ra, a protective and fearsome force. Protector of the hearth, of women, children and childbirth, she also watches over joy, dance and music. Her great cult centre was Bubastis, in the eastern Nile delta, where her temple stood and where the Greek historian Herodotus describes an annual festival drawing crowds of pilgrims in celebration. The city became one of the most prosperous in the land, and countless cats were embalmed and buried there in her honour, a testimony of popular devotion. According to Geraldine Pinch, her association with the cat, a prolific animal, reinforces her role as goddess of pregnancy and of domestic protection. Bastet illustrates the central place of feline deities in Egyptian religious thought.

Powers & Attributes

protection of the hearthnight vigilancefertilitysacred joyappeasement of wrath

Role in the ROHO universe

Sentinel of the Threshold. When Sekhmet unleashes the purifying fire, Bast sees to it that the flame does not consume what it protects. She keeps the domestic thresholds of the Mabioni — where human life is woven.

Sacred Mask

A ceremonial mask of burnished copper and mother-of-pearl inlaid with lapis lazuli, carnelian eyes, micro-hieroglyphs engraved along the jaw. Crowned with the solar disc framed by two uraei.

Era

3,000–1,000 BCE — Cycle of Elemental Powers

Words of the Spirit

“Where the lioness burns, the cat keeps watch.”

Frequently asked questions

Who is Bastet?

Bastet is the feline goddess of ancient Egypt, protector of the hearth, of motherhood, of joy and of music. Daughter of the sun god Ra, she was first figured as a lioness, then as a woman with a cat's head or as the familiar cat. Her great cult centre was Bubastis, in the Nile delta, where an annual festival drew crowds of pilgrims.

Why is Bastet associated with the cat?

Venerated at first in the form of a lioness, Bastet saw her image soften over the centuries into the cat, an animal at once affectionate and a protector of the household against snakes and rodents. The cat's great fecundity also made it a symbol of motherhood. At Bubastis, hundreds of thousands of cats were embalmed and offered to the goddess.

What is the link between Bastet and Sekhmet?

Bastet and Sekhmet are two feline goddesses often regarded as two complementary faces of the Eye of Ra. Sekhmet, the lioness, embodies the sun's destructive fury, while Bastet, become the cat, represents its gentler, protective aspect. This polarity between violence and appeasement runs through the whole theology of the dangerous goddesses of ancient Egypt.

Related spirits

SEKHMET RÊ HATHOR ISIS

Sources and references

Richard H. Wilkinson, The Complete Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt (2003)
Geraldine Pinch, Egyptian Mythology: A Guide to the Gods, Goddesses, and Traditions of Ancient Egypt (2002)
Erik Hornung, Conceptions of God in Ancient Egypt: The One and the Many (1982)