From Protection to Pleasure
Bast is a most complex goddess. At first she was seen in an avenging light, as a punisher of wickedness and a protector of the innocent. She was portrayed with the head of a lioness, much like Sekhmet. Over time as Sekhmet was portrayed more aggressivley, Bast's image softened. However, this did not erase her ferocity. " Scholar Geraldine Pinch writes:
From the Pyramid Texts onward, Bastet has a double aspect of nurturing mother and terrifying avenger. It is the demonic aspect that mainly features in the Coffin Texts and the Book of the Dead and in medical spells. The "slaughterers of Bastet" were said to inflict plague and other disasters on humanity. One spell advises pretending to be the 'son of Bastet' in order to avoid catching the plague (Mark,2016)."
Although she was greatly loved and honored, she was equally feared as two of her titles show, she was known as The Lady of Dread and The Lady of Slaughter. However as Lower Egypt began to lose in the wars against Upper Egypt she began to decrease in ferocity. When the two Egyptian Kingdoms came together, many similar deities were merged, like the kingdoms themselves. Bast being protector of lower Egypt and Sekhmet being the protector of the upper kingdom, the two were both so substantial that both were retained. However one or the other would be required to change, Bast was the subject of that change. Thus, by the Middle Kingdom she came to be regarded as a domestic cat rather than a lioness. Occasionally, however, she was depicted holding a lioness mask, hinting at her potential ferocity.
Bast's association as a defender of the wronged carried over onto her son Maahes, the protector of the innocent, who is shown as a lion-headed man carrying a long knife.
Bast is closely associated with Ra's cat form, Mau. Mau is most often depicted killing Aophis with a knife in her paw, cutting off his head. It is this iconic portrayal of Mau that Bastet is sometimes shown to replicate. As time continued and Bast began to take on the form of a domestic cat rather than a lioness, she began to be seen as a familial companion. She is sometimes rendered in art with a litter of kittens at her feet but her most popular depiction is of a sitting cat facing what lays ahead (Mark,2016).
This portrayal of her with kittens was not unreasonable; domestic cats were seen as more kind and protective of their offspring - which left Bast regarded as a good mother. This explained why she was sometimes shown to have a litter of kittens at her feet, and leading her to become a fertility symbol. This particular image of her was depicted on amulets worn by women who sought to become pregnant; the number of children desired would be the same number of kittens at the foot of the goddess (Lady,2012). Another softer aspect that was added to her image was the addition of the sistrum. This is a musical instrument that is associated with the goddess Hathor. Hathor herself underwent a dramatic change - she was once the blood thirst goddess Sekhmet. While Bast was a more avenging and protective deity in her foercity , Sekhment was the punishers, having been sent by Ra to destroy humanity for it's sins. Sekhmet's change was a total flip from enemy to friend, while in Bastet's case she became more mild, yet she never lost her edge and was no less dangerous to those who broke the law or abused others (Mark,2016).
How did this fierce protectress become associated and known as a goddess of pleasure?
one of the oldest versions her name was Pasht, as stated earlier in the paper. From this, the word Passion is derived. She is also connected and tied with perfume and perfume jars, through her own name's assumed meaning and through her son. She has been portrayed with having three husbands and many sexual partners; her rituals held for healing, protection, and fertility, were done in which her priestesses would dance in an erotic way; thus leading her to be associated with sensual pleasure, song and dance. Song and dance also is important to her festival.
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The main source of information about the Bast cult comes from Herodotus who visited Bubastis around 450 BC during the heyday of the cult.
From Protection to Pleasure
She was first represented as a woman with the head of a lioness and closely associated with the goddess Sekhmet but, as that deity's iconography depicted her as increasingly aggressive, Bastet's images softened over time to present more of a daily companion and helper than her earlier forms as savage avenger. Scholar Geraldine Pinch writes:
From the Pyramid Texts onward, Bastet has a double aspect of nurturing mother and terrifying avenger. It is the demonic aspect that mainly features in the Coffin Texts and the Book of the Dead and in medical spells. The "slaughterers of Bastet" were said to inflict plague and other disasters on humanity. One spell advises pretending to be the 'son of Bastet' in order to avoid catching the plague (115).
Although she was greatly venerated, she was equally feared as two of her titles demonstrate: The Lady of Dread and The Lady of Slaughter. She is associated with both Mau, the divine cat who is an aspect of Ra, and with Mafdet, goddess of justice and the first feline deity in Egyptian history. Both Bastet and Sekhment took their early forms as feline defenders of the innocent, avengers of the wronged, from Mafdet. This association was carried on in depictions of Bastet's son Maahes, protector of the innocent, who is shown as a lion-headed man carrying a long knife or as a lion.
In Bastet's association with Mau, she is sometimes seen destroying the enemy of Ra, Apophis, by slicing off his head with a knife in her paw; an image Mau is best known by. In time, as Bastet became more of a familial companion, she lost all trace of her lionine form, and was regularly depicted as a house cat or a woman with the head of a cat often holding a sistrum. She is sometimes rendered in art with a litter of kittens at her feet but her most popular depiction is of a sitting cat gazing ahead.
Bastet appears early in the 3rd millenium BCE in her form as an avenging lioness in Lower Egypt. By the time of the Pyramid Texts (c. 2400-2300 BCE) she was associated with the king of Egypt as his nursemaid in youth and protector as he grew. In the later Coffin Texts (c. 2134-2040 BCE) she retains this role but is also seen as a protector of the dead. The scholar Richard H. Wilkinson comments on this:
In her earliest known form, as depicted on stone vessels of the 2nd dynasty, Bastet was represented as a woman with the maneless head of a lioness. The iconography of the goddess changed, however, perhaps as her nature began to be viewed as milder than that of other lioness deities (178).
Her cult center at Bubastis in Lower Egypt became one of the richest and most luxuriant cities in Egypt as people from all over the country traveled there to pay their respects to the goddess and have the bodies of their dead cats interred in the city. Her iconography borrowed from the earlier goddess Mafdet and also from Hathor, a goddess associated with Sekhmet who was also closely linked to Bastet. The appearance of the sistrum in Bastet's hand in some statues is a clear link to Hathor who is traditionally seen carrying the instrument. Hathor is another goddess who underwent a dramatic change from bloodthirsty destroyer to gentle friend of humanity as she was originally the lioness deity Sekhmet whom Ra sent to earth to destroy humans for their sins. In Bastet's case, although she became more mild, she was no less dangerous to those who broke the law or abused others. (Mark,2016)
during the Twenty-second dynasty c.945-715 BC, Bastet worship changed to being a major cat deity (as opposed to a lioness deity). With the unification of the two Egypts, many similar deities were merged into one or the other, the significance of Bast and Sekhmet, to the regional cultures that merged, resulted in a retention of both, necessitating a change to one or the other. During later dynasties, Bast was assigned a lesser role in the pantheon, but retained.
Lower Egypt’s loss in the wars between Upper and Lower Egypt led to a decrease in the ferocity of Bast. Thus, by the Middle Kingdom she came to be regarded as a domestic cat rather than a lioness. Occasionally, however, she was depicted holding a lioness mask, hinting at her potential ferocity.
Because domestic cats tend to be tender and protective of their offspring, Bast also was regarded as a good mother, and she was sometimes depicted with numerous kittens. Consequently, a woman who wanted children sometimes wore an amulet showing the goddess with kittens, the number of which indicated her own desired number of children. (Lady,2012)
For starters, one of the oldest versions of the goddess Bast was known by the name 'Pasht', from which our word passion was derived. (And from which the English term "Puss" may have arisen.)
Her name itself shares the hieroglyph of a bas-jar, a large pottery jar, usually filled with expensive perfume, a valuable commodity in a hot climate. Indeed, her son Nefertem, a sun god, became the Egyptian god of alchemy and perfumes.
It's not surprising she had a reputation, since she herself had three husbands and was acknowledged as a sexual partner of every god and goddess (explaining her association with lesbians, although bisexuality would be a more accurate description of her nature).
The rituals performed in her temples, designed for healing, protection, and insuring fertility, were decidedly sensual, full of music and dancing The priestesses of Bast, dressed in "her color" which was red, and were the first "strippers", famous for their erotic dancing.
Many festivals were held in her honor, and they tended to be quite rowdy affairs. During the major festival, thousands of men and women (children weren't invited) traveled on barges down the river to Baubastis, drinking and partying mightily.
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