Cats And Kittens.

Bastet.
{photo}British Museum.
One of the most common animal mummies in Egypt was the cat. Cats were believed to represent the goddess Bastet. Consequently, they were raised in and around temples devoted to Bastet. When they died, they were mummified and buried in huge cemeteries, often in large communal graves.

From about 332 B.C. to 30 B.C., animals began to be raised for the specific purpose of being turned into mummies. The mummies were sold to people on their way to worship a god and left at the temple as offerings. Scientists have uncovered a gruesome fact: many cats died quite premature and unnatural deaths. Two- to four-month-old kittens seemed to have been sacrificed in huge numbers. So many cat mummies were made that researchers can only guess that there were millions of them.

Bastet:

Cats are very useful animals in a country that depends on grain. The cat's hunting instincts were honoured by the Ancient Egyptians, but so was the cat's gentler side as a warm and loving mother to her kittens. Bastet can be shown as a woman with a feline head. There are disagreements among zoologists as to when these animals first began to live with humans along the Nile, and about which feline became the Egyptian pet. Cats do not appear as household pets during the Age of the Pyramids, though they were very popular animal companions in later times.

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Bastet:- Cult Center: Bubastis in the Delta.

Attributes: As a sun goddess she represents the warm, life giving power of the sun. Her cult appears as early as the Second Dynasty. Like a cat, she was admired for her agility and strength. Bast defended Ra against the serpent Apep.

Representation: A woman with the head of a domesticated cat, sometimes holding a sistrum.

Relations: Daughter and wife of Ra, mother of Khensu and Maahes.

Other Name Bast.

Sekhmet:- Cult Center: Memphis.

Attributes: A sun goddess. She represents the scorching, burning, destructive heat of the sun. She was a fierce goddess of war, the destroyer of the enemies of Ra and Osiris. Her temper was uncontrollable. In the legend of Ra and Hathor, Sekhmet's anger became so great, she would have destroyed all of mankind if Ra had not taken pity on us and made her drunk.
. . . . .Sekhmet was the wife of the creator-god Ptah. This marriage was unusual in that it resulted from geographical proximity of their cults rather than a sharing of attributes.

Representation: A woman with the head of a lion.

Relations: Daughter of Nut and Geb. Wife of Ptah, mother of Nefer-Tem

Other Names: Sakhmet, Sekhet, Nesert.

Cats In Ancient Egypt. Cats were a revered animal in Egypt. Egypt had a cat goddess, Bast or Bastet, and all cats themselves were considered demigods. Cats lived pretty cushy lives, better so than many of the people of Egypt themselves.

Egypt's original use of cats was to keep the royal granaries and such of Egypt vermin free. The cat's job itself was not so simple; the vermin bred quite rapidly and ate like kings in the mountains of grain. The Pharaoh realized that he needed all the cats he could get, and being a king-god himself he made the cats demigods. All cats were considered property of the Pharaohs,
because a human can't own a demigod, but can feed, and shelter one. As a result of all cats being not only demigods also Pharaoh property, it was a felony to kill or injure one, even by accident, the consequence sometimes resulting in death. If a house caught on fire the cats were the first to be rescued, then the humans.

If a cat died in the normal course of events, the household went into special ritualistic mourning
where the humans shaved off their eyebrows, chanted while beating their breasts, and demonstrating other outward signs of grief at their loss. The body of the cat was first brought to a priest to make sure the death of the cat was natural, after that was finished with the body was brought to an embalmer to be mummified.

Aided by the priests, the belief that cats had a strong influence upon things such as health, marriage, and fortune spread over Egypt quite rapidly. The cat goddess Bastet, often depicted with a cat's head and a woman's body, was the goddess of family and life. Bast is often seen holding in her left hand an utchat, an all seeing cat eye amulet that was believed to have magical
powers. The utchat was seen in kitchens, on necklaces, on doors, and many other places because it was believed to watch over people and served as some sort of protection.

The ancient Egyptian love for cats is incomparable to that of any other civilization. They were held as greatly needed by city workers, beyond reproach and dearly loved family members. Their deaths were as upsetting as that of a human, if not more, and their all seeing eyes were amulets for those in need of protection. Today cats are no longer demigods or city workers, but in many cases they are still dearly loved family members.

Petra Szilagyi.
Sent to us by Carl Johnston.