Bastet at Leontopolis and Bubastis
Egyptian Gods and Their Cult Centers

Enrich your trip to Egypt, learn more about the Ancient Gods whose monuments and temples you will s e on your Egypt Tour. Take day tours around Cairo to Memphis and Saqqara for sites of Gods of Lower Egypt. Travel by prearranged speciality excursions for the Gods of Middle Egypt. Many monuments and temples for the God of Upper Egypt are located in and around Luxor. Tours of Abydos and Dendera can be made by special arrangement. Visit other sites in Upper Egypt by Nile Cruise, Elephantine Island, home of Khnum the creator god is located in Aswan.

Bastet

Bastet, the cat goddess. Bastet was the daughter of Ra. She was originally associated with the Sun, but the Greeks linked her to Artemis and declared her a moon goddess.

Bastet was a giver of blessings to the good and a deliverer of wrath to the evil, just as was Sekhmet.

The domestic cat was sacred to Bastet. The cult temple of Bastet at Bubastis was said to rival the temples of Ra and Horus. Bastet was also worshipped at Leontopolis along with other Lion-Ra-related gods.

Mummified cats were offered to the god Bastet, and the domestic cat is thought to have been produced by cross breeding in the "catteries" of the temples.

Domestic cats were kept in households of ancient Egypt and are sometimes pictured in tombs of Nobles. The death of a domestic cat called for a period of mourning and it is said that the household shaved their eyebrows in respect.

Herodotus wrote ".. they come to Bubastis (and) they begin the festival with great offerings and sacrifices, during which more wine is consumed than during the whole of the rest of the year. The Egyptians say that some 700,000 men and women make this pilgrimage every year."

Send gifts to friends and family in the USA, direct from stores in the USA!

Custom Search