'Let it be said unto me, 'come in peace, come in peace,' for I have heard the mighty words which the sahu spake unto the cat in the per of Bast-Re.'
The Book of Coming Forth by Day, chapter cxxv.
A kind welcome to the Great Cat Necropolis, situated within the boundaries of Per-Bast. Here you will find
not one cat necropoli but four, each dedicated to the goddess Bast, the personification of 'joy.'
Confined within these four environs and enclosed within it's vast array of mastaba, rock cut vaults and
tombs, you'll be able to glimpse a little of the dignity and respect we Egyptians accord our cats.
The admiration which we hold for these creatures goes beyond love or friendship. When our cats sadly
pass away, our grief is as significant as when a human member of the family dies. Full mourning, lyrical
and melancholy, greets the loss of a household cat. The owner will don a pure white linen robe, shave off
their eyebrows and scatter ash through their hair. Their eyes will be blacked with charcoal. Professional
mourners are hired to help the family marshal and co-ordinate their expressions of grief.
The beautiful Amenti, goddess of the West and Lady of the Gates gently guides the little feline soul and
takes it along a shaded pathway, showing the cat's ka the tomb offerings that will magically attend to it's
nourishment and sustain it during it's journey of transmigration. Amenti then places the cat into the
compassionate care of the goddesses Bast and Sekhmet. The goddesses each take a paw and with the cat, walk
west. There they cross The Lake of Flowers to the Fields of Aaru and beyond. Where the desert meets the
green meadows, lush with the red of poppy and the bright blue of cornflower, they find a ladder. Sekhmet
and Bast will bow low and the cat will climb, scaling the ladder without mishap. The ladder holds firm,
held steady by the gods. At the top rung, smiling and waiting to take the cat into their arms are the gods
Set and Heru. They each take a paw, hold it to their hearts and welcome the cat into the starry paradise
of the gods.
Once there, the cat is assured of the bliss that awaits it. Before it lies
an idealised Egypt, with her river, her fishponds, her luxiuriant vegetation, her homes and temples. The
gods bend to pet the cat, stroke it's fur and feed it tidbits. Here it passes an easy existence of hunting,
sleeping, eating and playing contentedly at the feet of the gods. Here that cat is admired, loved and
protected by the gods Ra and Wesir, it's ka now divine.
After the beloved cat has been gently placed into the hands of the Guardians of the
Necropolis, the sorrow will slowly dissipate over time and though, with heavy hearts, we once again take up the tasks of daily life, we again feel the presence of our loved one. The precious memory of a moment shared
will take hold of our thoughts and we'll find ourselves smiling. We'll wake from a dream that our cat has visited. We'll catch a shadow out of the corner of
our eye, or feel a slight brush against our leg and understand that our departed feline friend is nearby - and we cherish
these times. Our cat, now in the care of the divine gods, is watching over us, allowing us to keep it's
memory alive.
Return to the city of PER-BAST
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