Bastet

Bastet or Bast (Ancient Egyptian: bꜣstjt, Coptic: Ⲟⲩⲃⲁⲥⲧⲉ, romanized: Oubaste /ʔuːˈβastə/, Phoenician: 𐤀𐤁𐤎𐤕, romanized: ’bst, or 𐤁𐤎𐤕, romanized: bst) is a goddess of ancient Egyptian religion, worshipped as early as the Second Dynasty (2890 BCE). Her name also is rendered as B'sst, Baast, Ubaste, and Baset. In ancient Greek religion, she was known as Ailuros (Koinē Greek: αἴλουρος, lit. 'cat').

For other uses of Bastet, see Bastet (disambiguation). For other uses of Bast, see Bast.
Bastet
Bastet in her late form of a cat-headed woman (rather than a lioness) holding an ankh and sistrum
Name in hieroglyphs
Major cult centerBubastis
Symbollioness, cat, ointment jar, sistrum, solar disk
Personal information
ParentsRa and Isis
SiblingsHorus and Anhur (half-brothers)
ConsortPtah (in some myths)
OffspringMaahes

Bastet was worshipped in Bubastis in Lower Egypt. It has been theorized that she started out originally as a lioness goddess, and the role of lion goddess went to her sister Sekhmet. Eventually Bastet and Sekhmet were characterized as two aspects of the same goddess, with Sekhmet representing the powerful warrior and protector aspect, and Bastet, who increasingly was depicted as a cat, representing a gentler aspect.

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