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Per-Bast's District of
Temple of Bast
Heri-tep a'a:
It is a lovely spring day in the environs of the Temple. Cats roam freely -- the penalty for harming one of Bast's sacred creatures is simply too dire to consider. Musicians and acolytes to the Priesthood, ailurophiles all, roam the district, in one part to ensure that the cats are treated in a sacred manner, but in another part, to provide companionship to the sturdy felines who patrol graineries and foodstock near the Temple.
One imagines that the Temple of Bast, far from being a somber house of religious sanctimony, was a place of joy and play. Such a temple would take after the nature of the Cat: dignified; yet filled with the moments of unexpected tanglings with robes, papyrus, and woven rope. Those dedicated to the worship of Bast would honor the noble within their charges, while respecting and worshipping the play that is the nature of nearly every cat which has ever existed.
The first known feline deity was Mafdet. She was usually depicted in lynx form. Sekhmet, of course, appeared as a lion, sometimes depicted as a lion-head on a human figure. She could be fierce and destructive. As Bast, she represented the fertile and maternal. It was not until the New Kingdom that the cult of the cat truly showed its staying power.
Resources: The Role
of Cats in Ancient Egypt
Per-Bastet is Pet Friendly!  Return to Per-Bastet's MAIN CITY PAGE Go to the GREAT CAT NECROPOLIS Return to Prince of the South NOME PAGE  Merneith Ahhotep
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