The History Of Cats 2 – Cats As Gods And Objects Of Worship.
Cats as Gods and objects of worship are most closely associated with ancient Egypt than any other culture I can find out about, the ancient Egyptians had several cat Gods and Goddesses. Larger cats were also involved, for example lions were said to guard the great God Ra during his nightly journey through the underworld so in general the Egyptians had a fascination with lions. Look at the Sphinx, they created it with the body of a lion and the head of one of the Pharaohs so this major statue shows the importance that was placed in the cat family. As far as I can find out there were three lion Goddesses that existed as far as the ancient Egyptians were concerned. Sekhmet was a fierce and powerful goddess of war who was sent by her father Ra to earth to destroy his enemies, she is usually shown as a woman with the head of a lion. Another lion headed Goddess was Tefnut whose name means moisture, she represented a primeval force of nature. The third lion Goddess was Mafdet who was the Goddess of protection.
Compared to her larger cat sisters gentle Bast may seem a bit out of place. Most people will has seen a small statue of her often shown as a graceful cat wearing bracelets a broad collar and earrings, Bast was the protector of domestic cats and those who cared for them, her principle gifts to the world were joy and pleasure, she was in fact a much beloved household deity. Her principle temple was at Bubastis and was said to be one of the most beautiful and popular in all of Egypt, but she also had a secondary seat in Memphis as well.
Paradoxically there is some evidence to believe that the ancient Egyptians believed that Bast and Sekhmet were actually two faces of the same divine force. Contrasting sides of the coin as it were, Sekhmet representing retribution and the violent aspect of the divine Diety, and Bast, the gentler qualities. Egyptian children were often consecrated to Bast and placed under her protection as she was considered a divine mother and was sometimes depicted with kittens. When a woman in ancient Egypt wanted to have children, she would often wear a bracelet or a necklace depicting the goddess Bast with kittens. The number of kittens shown with the Goddess represented the number of children desired by the woman. As every vet and cat owner knowns if given the chance cats are prodigious breeders.
Ancient Egyptians seemed to consider cats to be beautiful. Some say that the styles of make up they used in those times, especially around the eyes, tended to give the wearer a cat like look. Cats were so highly regarded by the ancient Egyptians that the penalty for killing one was death, but when a family cat died of accident or old age, its’ human family would go into mourning. They would shave their eyebrows off to show their grief. It is well know of course that cats were often mummified and there are some very striking and well preserved ones in the Egyptian Room at the British Museum a place I have often visited . One royal cat was even buried in a sumptuous marble coffin, the hieroglyphs on her coffin referred to her as “Lady Cat”.
More about Bast though the most familiar of the cat Goddesses , she was said to be the wife of the God Ptah, the creator God of the universe. Ptah and Bast were said to have had a son, the fierce lion God Maahes. Maahes originated as a Nubian God but During the New Kingdom, his worship moved northward where he was then incorporated into the Egyptian mythology as the son of Bast and Ptah. On becoming a divine mother Bast became associated with the protector of Lower Egypt, Wadjet. They became linked as Wadjet-Bast, this was not unknown as a similar association was created in the Upper Kingdom By the combination of Sekhmet and the Upper Kingdom protectress Nekhbet.
The constantly changing nature of Egyptian religion can be rather confusing when you read about as it does seem to me to have been evolving and changing from age to age and the role of cats as Dieties did change as well. You see they had an inclusive attitude towards other gods and religions and made changes sometimes for political convenience. The ancient Egyptians freely adapted and adopted these others into their own belief structure and this attitude makes it difficult for modern readers to understand, however cats both large and small were a constant thread running through this first of recorded religions.
.Read the first part of the series HERE
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