Gods and goddesses were an important part of ancient Egyptian society. Among the many, only a few were dedicated primarily to felines. The goddess Bast, Bastet, Bubastis, or Pasht was one of such. Earlier representations of her show a lion’s head on a human body, but this was later changed to a domestic cat’s head on a human body, or a full-fledged cat. The piece in question, the sacred cat of Bast, is one of the latter. It is a sculpture that was created to honour this important goddess.

The sacred cat of Bast is one of many sculptures of its kind. It is made entirely of bronze, with an earring in the right ear. Time has tempered the sculpture (except for the earring) to a mossy green. Unlike most Egyptian sculptures, where the detailing is frontal,  the sacred cat of Bast can be viewed from all sides. However, it is stiff or rigid as is common with Egyptian sculpture and other Egyptian art. Generic facial features (only this time of a cat) are evident as well. It stands at 26.4 cm or 10 3/8" tall. The artist is unknown, and the origin of its creation is not entirely specific. It is obviously Egyptian; perhaps it was made near Bubastis, located in northern Egypt in the Nile Delta Region, the centre of Bast’s worship. This also further explains that it was created primarily (and perhaps solely) to honour the goddess, Bast. It also becomes evident that Bast, among the many other gods and goddesses, was very important to the ancient Egyptians.

Although Bast was the cat goddess, many important Egyptian gods and goddesses had cat shapes or cat heads. Ancient sculptures and drawings prove this. The most important representation of Ra, the sun god, is about 3000 years old and shows him as a cat. It was thought that the cat’s eyes mirrored the sun’s rays during hours when it couldn’t be seen.

Bast was the daughter of Isis and Ra. She was seen as the sun god’s eye during hours of darkness. She represented warmth, love, dance, and wisdom. The natural grace and motherly qualities of a cat may be the reason for Bast representing female fertility. The independence and night-stalking common to cats also connected her to the moon. She protects her followers from evil spirits, and had the power of healing. Her other name, Pasht, suggests the word puss, sometimes used interchangeably with cat. In short, she was the patroness of cats and the home.

Bast was worshipped throughout Egypt, but the centre of her worship was Bubastis. The festivals held in her honour were among the largest and most enthusiastically celebrated in the entirety of the ancient world. Thousands of little cat sculptures, (like the sacred cat of Bast) which were most likely left with offerings by devotees at her temple, were recovered at Bubastis. She was worshipped from about 2000 B.C. to 392 A.D. Her temple cats were tended and cared for in special courts until the discontinuation of her worship due to the Roman suppression of paganism. Bast was the second member of the trio of gods of ancient Memphis.

Finally, the sacred cat of Bast is an important developmental part of Egyptian and other art history. This piece of art was created to honour an avidly worshipped and highly respected goddess that was of great importance to many ancient Egyptians. So important was Bast that if a cat died in an Egyptian household, it was embalmed and all of the family members would shave off their eyebrows. If someone killed a cat they would be sentenced to death. Commonly known as the goddess of cats, Bast had numerous followers perhaps because she represented a great many things. She was a very important deity. The sacred cat of Bast among its thousands of duplicates, furthered the evidence of her influence on the Egyptians, and presents an interesting insight into the society from which she came. At present, she remains popular with numerous web sites dedicated to the great goddess of cats herself, Bast.