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55-513: Bastet was worshipped in Bubastis in Lower Egypt , originally as a lioness goddess, a role shared by other deities such as 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. Bastet, the form of

110-621: A "chasm opened near Bubastis and many perished" during the reign of Hotepsekhemwy in the Second Dynasty . In the Middle Kingdom, Tell Basta was the site of a large mudbrick palace (16,000 sqm) dated to the Twelfth Dynasty. It has been thought to be a residence of Amenemhat III . A limestone lintel shows the king during his Heb Sed Festival . Following the Twelfth Dynasty, the Middle Kingdom faded out. At Bubastis,

165-532: A feminine ending but usually was not pronounced, and the aleph ꜣ ( [REDACTED] ) may have moved to a position before the accented syllable, ꜣbst . By the first millennium, then, bꜣstt would have been something like *Ubaste (< *Ubastat ) in Egyptian speech, later becoming Coptic Oubaste . The name is rendered in Phoenician as 𐤀𐤁𐤎𐤕, romanized: ’bst, or 𐤁𐤎𐤕, romanized: bst. What

220-499: A gentle cat, and settled in the temple. At the Bubastis temple, some cats were found to have been mummified and buried, many next to their owners. More than 300,000 mummified cats were discovered when Bastet's temple was excavated . Turner and Bateson suggest that the status of the cat was roughly equivalent to that of the cow in modern India . The death of a cat might leave a family in great mourning and those who could, would have them embalmed or buried in cat cemeteries—pointing to

275-448: A number of lioness goddesses, who are said to represent one original goddess, Bastet, Mut , Tefnut , Hathor , and Sakhmet , and came to be associated with sun gods such as Horus and Ra as well as the Eye of Ra . Each of them had to be appeased by a specific set of rituals. One myth relates that a lioness, fiery and wrathful, was once cooled down by the water of the lake, transformed into

330-408: A red granite architrave belonged to Sekhemre Khutawy Khabaw . In another monument found at Tanis, he is mentioned along with Hor . It became a royal residence after Shoshenq I , the first ruler and founder of the 22nd Dynasty , became pharaoh in 943 BC. Bubastis was its height during this dynasty and the 23rd . It declined after the conquest by Cambyses II in 525 BC, which heralded the end of

385-509: A time under the rule of Taharqa and Tantamani, whilst Lower Egypt was ruled from 664 BC by the nascent 26th Dynasty , client kings established by the Assyrians. In 663 BC, Tantamani launched a full-scale invasion of Lower Egypt, taking Memphis in April of this year, killing Necho I of Sais in the process as Necho had remained loyal to Ashurbanipal. Tantamani barely had the time to receive

440-451: A wondrously solemn feast: and more wine of the grape was drank in those days than in all the rest of the year. Such was the manner of this festival: and, it is said, that as many as seven hundred thousand pilgrims have been known to celebrate the Feast of Bast at the same time. Extant documents mention the names of three Christian bishops of Bubastis of the 4th and 5th centuries: The tomb of

495-687: Is known today as Zagazig . The town, known in Egyptian as pr-bꜣstt (also transliterated as Per-Bastet ), carries her name, literally meaning House of Bastet . It was known in Greek as Boubastis ( Βούβαστις ) and translated into Hebrew as Pî-beset , spelled without the initial t sound of the last syllable. In the biblical Book of Ezekiel 30:17, the town appears in the Hebrew form Pibeseth . Herodotus , an ancient Greek historian who traveled in Egypt in

550-407: Is square, each side being a stadium in length. In a line with the entrance is a road built of stone about three stadia long, leading eastwards through the public market. The road is about 400 feet (120 m) broad, and is flanked by exceeding tall trees. It leads to the temple of Hermes. Bubastis was a center of worship for the feline goddess Bastet , sometimes called Bubastis after the city, who

605-479: Is thought to have been added to emphasize pronunciation of the ending t sound, often left silent. Cats in ancient Egypt were highly revered, partly due to their ability to combat vermin such as mice, rats (which threatened key food supplies), and snakes—especially cobras . Cats of royalty were, in some instances, known to be dressed in golden jewelry and were allowed to eat from the plates of their owners. Dennis C. Turner and Patrick Bateson estimate that during

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660-456: The Assyrians under King Ashurbanipal . The use of the term "Third Intermediate Period" , based on the analogy of the well-known First and Second Intermediate Periods, was popular by 1978, when British Egyptologist Kenneth Kitchen used the term for the title of his book on the period. While Kitchen argued that the period was 'far from being chaotic' and hoped that his work would lead to

715-702: The Greek Dark Ages ). The period of the Twenty-first Dynasty is characterized by the country's fracturing kingship. Already during Ramesses XI 's reign, the Twentieth Dynasty of Egypt was losing its grip on the city of Thebes , whose priests were becoming increasingly powerful. After his death, his successor, Smendes I , ruled from the city of Tanis , but was mostly active only in Lower Egypt, which he controlled. Meanwhile,

770-470: The Greeks identified with Artemis . The cat was the sacred and peculiar animal of Bast, who is represented with the head of a cat or a lioness and frequently accompanies the deity Ptah in monumental inscriptions. The tombs at Bubastis were accordingly the principal depository in Egypt of the mummies of the cat . The most distinguished features of the city and nome of Bubastis were its oracle of Bast,

825-557: The High Priests of Amun at Thebes ruled Middle and Upper Egypt in all but name. However, this division was less significant than it seems, since both the priests and pharaohs came from the same family. The country was firmly reunited by the Twenty-second Dynasty founded by Shoshenq I in 945 BC (or 943 BC), who descended from Meshwesh immigrants, originally from ancient Libya . This brought stability to

880-529: The Ptolemaic Dynasty that lasted almost 300 years. The Greeks sometimes equated Bastet with one of their goddesses, Artemis . Bastet was depicted by Egyptians with the head of a cat and the slender body of a woman. Sometimes, Bastet was venerated as just a cat head. Bastet was a local deity whose religious sect was centered in the city in the Nile Delta later named Bubastis . It lay near what

935-413: The Twenty-second Dynasty ( c.  945–715 BC ), Bastet worship changed from being a lioness deity into being predominantly a major cat deity. Because domestic cats tend to be tender and protective of their offspring, Bastet was also regarded as a good mother and sometimes was depicted with numerous kittens . The native Egyptian rulers were replaced by Greeks during an occupation of Ancient Egypt in

990-707: The "feasts of drunkenness". A festival of Bastet was known to be celebrated during the New Kingdom at Bubastis. The block statue from the eighteenth dynasty ( c.  1380 BC ) of Nefer-ka, the wab-priest of Sekhmet, provides written evidence for this. The inscription suggests that the king, Amenhotep III , was present at the event and had great offerings made to the deity. Bubastis Bubastis ( Bohairic Coptic : Ⲡⲟⲩⲃⲁⲥϯ Poubasti ; Greek : Βούβαστις Boubastis or Βούβαστος Boubastos ), also known in Arabic as Tell-Basta or in Egyptian as Per-Bast ,

1045-466: The Assyrian invasions of Egypt over the period 670–663 BC. Consequently, pharaoh Taharqa 's reign, and that of his successor Tantamani , were filled with constant conflict with the Assyrians. In 664 BC the Assyrians delivered a mortal blow, sacking Thebes and Memphis . Following these events, and starting with Atlanersa , no Kushite ruler would ever rule over Egypt again. Upper Egypt remained for

1100-525: The Nile. The men played on pipes of lotus. the women on cymbals and tambourines, and such as had no instruments accompanied the music with clapping of hands and dances, and other joyous gestures. Thus did they while on the river: but when they came to a town on its banks, the barges were made fast, and the pilgrims disembarked, and the women sang, playfully mocked the women of that town and threw their clothes over their head. When they reached Bubastis, then held they

1155-607: The Saite 26th Dynasty and the start of the Achaemenid Empire . The Twenty Second Dynasty of Egyptian monarchs consisted of nine, or, according to Eusebius of three Bubastite kings, and during their reigns the city was one of the most considerable places in the Delta. Immediately to the south of Bubastis were the allotments of land with which Psamtik I rewarded the services of his Ionian and Carian mercenaries; and on

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1210-500: The abolishment of the term, with his own preference being the 'Post-Imperial epoch', his use of the term as a title seems only to have entrenched the use of the term. The period was ruled by non-native Egyptians and is viewed as one of decline and political instability including division of the state, coinciding with the Late Bronze Age collapse of civilizations in the ancient Near East and Eastern Mediterranean (including

1265-485: The age of Hadrian exist. The following is the description which Herodotus gives of Bubastis, as it appeared shortly after the period of the Persian invasion, 525 BC, and Hamilton remarks that the plan of the ruins remarkably warrants the accuracy of this historical eye-witness: Temples there are more spacious and costlier than that of Bubastis, but none so pleasant to behold. It is after the following fashion. Except at

1320-416: The city's level has been raised, but that of the temple has been left as it was from the first, so that it can be seen into from without. A stone wall, carven with figures, runs round it; within is a grove of very tall trees growing round a great shrine, wherein is the image of the goddess; the temple is a square, each side measuring a furlong . A road, paved with stone, of about three furlongs' length leads to

1375-472: The combined might of several native Egyptian rulers: Peftjaubast, Osorkon IV of Tanis, Iuput II of Leontopolis and Tefnakht of Sais. Piye established the Twenty-fifth Dynasty and appointed the defeated rulers as his provincial governors. He was succeeded first by his brother, Shabaka , and then by his two sons Shebitku and Taharqa . The reunited Nile valley empire of the 25th Dynasty

1430-634: The country during his 54-year reign from the city of Sais beginning the Late Period of ancient Egypt . The historiography of this period is disputed for a variety of reasons. Firstly, there is a dispute about the utility of a very artificial term that covers an extremely long and complicated period of Egyptian history. The Third Intermediate Period includes long periods of stability as well as chronic instability and civil conflict: its very name rather clouds this fact. Secondly, there are significant problems of chronology stemming from several areas, there are

1485-512: The country for well over a century, but after the reign of Osorkon II , particularly, the country had effectively split into two states, with Shoshenq III of the Twenty-second Dynasty controlling Lower Egypt by 818 BC while Takelot II and his son Osorkon (the future Osorkon III ) ruled Middle and Upper Egypt. In Thebes, a civil war engulfed the city, pitting the forces of Pedubast I , who had proclaimed himself pharaoh, against

1540-447: The day of her festival, the town was said to have attracted some 700,000 visitors, both men and women (but not children), who arrived in numerous crowded ships. The women engaged in music, song, and dance on their way to the place. Great sacrifices were made and prodigious amounts of wine were drunk—more than was the case throughout the year. This accords well with Egyptian sources that prescribe that lioness goddesses are to be appeased with

1595-627: The death of Pharaoh Ramesses XI in 1077 BC, which ended the New Kingdom , and was eventually followed by the Late Period . Various points are offered as the beginning for the latter era, though it is most often regarded as dating from the foundation of the Twenty-Sixth Dynasty by Psamtik I in 664 BC, following the departure of the Nubian Kushite rulers of the Twenty-fifth Dynasty after they were driven out by

1650-484: The difficulties in dating that are common to all of Egyptian chronology and are compounded by synchronisms with Biblical archaeology that also contain heavily disputed dates. Peter James , along with several other academics, argued contra Kitchen that the period lasted less than 200 years, starting later than 850 BC but ending at the conventional date, as the five dynasties had many years of overlap. Some theorists such as David Rohl have controversial theories about

1705-460: The entrance, it is surrounded by water: for two canals branch off from the river, and run as far as the entrance to the temple: yet neither canal mingles with the other, but one runs on this side, and the other on that. Each canal is a hundred feet wide, and its banks are lined with trees. The propylaea are sixty feet in height, and are adorned with sculptures (probably intaglios in relief) nine feet high, and of excellent workmanship. The Temple being in

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1760-550: The entrance, running eastward through the market place, towards the temple of Hermes ; this road is about 400 feet wide, and bordered by trees reaching to heaven. This description by Herodotus and several Egyptian texts suggest that water surrounded the temple on three (out of four) sides, forming a type of lake known as isheru , not too dissimilar from that surrounding the temple of the mother goddess Mut in Karnak at Thebes . These lakes were typical components of temples devoted to

1815-687: The existing line of Takelot II /Osorkon B. The two factions squabbled continuously and the conflict was only resolved in Year 39 of Shoshenq III when Osorkon B comprehensively defeated his enemies. He proceeded to found the Upper Egyptian Libyan Twenty-third Dynasty of Osorkon III – Takelot III – Rudamun , but this kingdom quickly fragmented after Rudamun's death, with the rise of local city states under kings such as Peftjaubast of Herakleopolis , Nimlot of Hermopolis , and Ini at Thebes. The Nubian kingdom to

1870-411: The fifth century BCE, describes Bastet's temple at some length: Save for the entrance, it stands on an island; two separate channels approach it from the Nile, and after coming up to the entry of the temple, they run round it on opposite sides; each of them a hundred feet wide, and overshadowed by trees. The temple is in the midst of the city, the whole circuit of which commands a view down into it; for

1925-512: The first pyramids to be constructed in the Nile valley in hundreds of years. The Napatan dynasty led to the Kingdom of Kush , which flourished in Napata and Meroe until at least the 2nd century AD. The international prestige of Egypt had declined considerably by this time. The country's international allies had fallen firmly into the sphere of influence of Assyria and from about 700 BC

1980-597: The future Divine Adoratrice of Amun , thereby also submitting the priesthood of Amun and effectively uniting Egypt. Tantamani's successor Atlanersa was in no position to attempt a reconquest of Egypt as Psamtik also secured the southern border at Elephantine and may even have sent a military campaign to Napata . Concurrently, Psamtik managed to free himself from the Assyrian vassalage while remaining on good terms with Ashurbanipal, possibly owing to an ongoing rebellion in Babylon. By doing so, he brought increased stability to

2035-545: The great prevalence of the cult of Bastet. Extensive burials of cat remains were found not only at Bubastis, but also at Beni Hasan and Saqqara . In 1888, a farmer uncovered a burial site of many hundreds of thousands of cats in Beni Hasan . Herodotus also relates that of the many solemn festivals held in Egypt, the most important and most popular one was that celebrated in Bubastis in honor of this goddess. Each year on

2090-749: The late New Kingdom vizier Iuty was discovered in December 1964 in the "Cemetery of the Nobles" of Bubastis by the Egyptian archaeologist Shafik Farid. Since 2008, the German-Egyptian "Tell Basta Project" has been conducting excavations at Bubastis. Previously, in March 2004, a well preserved copy of the Decree of Canopus was discovered in the city. Third Intermediate Period of Egypt The Third Intermediate Period of ancient Egypt began with

2145-416: The middle of the city is looked down upon from all sides as you walk around; and this comes from the city having been raised, whereas the temple itself has not been moved, but remains in its original place. Quite round the temple there goes a wall, adorned with sculptures. Within the inclosure is a grove of fair tall trees, planted around a large building in which is the effigy (of Bast). The form of that temple

2200-502: The moon". Bastet was also a goddess of pregnancy and childbirth, possibly because of the fertility of the domestic cat. Images of Bastet were often created from alabaster . The goddess was sometimes depicted holding a ceremonial sistrum in one hand and an aegis in the other—the aegis usually resembling a collar or gorget , embellished with a lioness head. Bastet was also depicted as the goddess of protection against contagious diseases and evil spirits . Bastet first appears in

2255-444: The name as a nisba construction from a place name "Baset" ( bꜣst ) with the meaning "she of bꜣst ". Bastet was originally a fierce lioness warrior goddess of the sun , worshipped throughout most of ancient Egyptian history. Later she became the cat goddess that is familiar today. She was then depicted as the daughter of Ra and Isis , and the consort of Ptah , with whom she had a son, Maahes . As protector of Lower Egypt , she

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2310-542: The name is rendered Ⲡⲟⲩⲃⲁⲥϯ , Ⲡⲟⲩⲁⲥϯ or Ⲃⲟⲩⲁⲥϯ . Bubastis served as the capital of the nome of Am-Khent , the 18th nome of Lower Egypt . Bubastis was situated southwest of Tanis , upon the eastern side of the Pelusiac branch of the Nile. The nome and city of Bubastis were allotted to the Calasirian division of the Egyptian war-caste. In a later account by the Greek historian Manetho , it's stated that

2365-422: The name of the goddess means remains uncertain. Names of ancient Egyptian deities often were represented as references to associations or with euphemisms, being cult secrets. One recent suggestion by Stephen Quirke ( Ancient Egyptian Religion ) explains Bastet as meaning, "She of the ointment jar". This ties in with the observation that her name was written with the hieroglyph for ointment jar ( bꜣs ) and that she

2420-414: The name that is most commonly adopted by Egyptologists today because of its use in later dynasties, is a modern convention offering one possible reconstruction. In early Egyptian hieroglyphs , her name appears to have been bꜣstt . James Peter Allen vocalizes the original form of the name as buʔístit or buʔístiat , with ʔ representing a glottal stop . In Middle Egyptian writing, the second t marks

2475-623: The northern side of the city commenced the Canal of the Pharaohs , which Pharaoh Necho II began (but never finished) to go between the Nile and the Red Sea . After Bubastis was taken by the Persians, its walls were dismantled. From this period it gradually declined, although it appears in ecclesiastical annals among the episcopal sees of the province Augustamnica Secunda . Bubastite coins of

2530-520: The question became when, not if, there would be war between the two states as Esarhaddon had realised that a conquest of Lower Egypt was necessary to protect Assyrian interests in the Levant. Despite Egypt's size and wealth, Assyria had a greater supply of timber, while Egypt had a chronic shortage, allowing Assyria to produce more charcoal needed for iron-smelting and thus giving Assyria a greater supply of iron weaponry. This disparity became critical during

2585-465: The south took full advantage of this division and the ensuing political instability. Prior to Piye 's Year 20 campaign into Egypt, the previous Nubian ruler – Kashta – had already extended his kingdom's influence into Thebes when he compelled Shepenupet, the serving Divine Adoratice of Amun and Takelot III's sister, to adopt his own daughter Amenirdis, to be her successor. Then, 20 years later, around 732 BC his successor, Piye , marched north and defeated

2640-513: The splendid temple of that goddess and the annual procession in honor of her. The oracle gained in popularity and importance after the influx of Greek settlers into the Delta, since the identification of Bast with Artemis attracted to her shrine both native Egyptians and foreigners. The festival of Bubastis was considered the most joyous and gorgeous of all in the Egyptian calendar as described by Herodotus : Barges and river craft of every description, filled with men and women, floated leisurely down

2695-563: The submission of some Delta kinglets and expel the remaining Assyrians that a large army led by Ashurbanipal and Necho's son Psamtik I came back. Tantamani was defeated north of Memphis and Thebes was thoroughly sacked shortly after. The Kushite king withdrew to Nubia while the Assyrian influence in Upper Egypt quickly waned. Permanently weakened by the sack, Thebes peacefully submitted itself to Psamtik's fleet in 656 BC. To affirm his authority, Psamtik placed his daughter in position to be

2750-437: The suburbs of the modern city of Zagazig . The name of Bubastis in Egyptian is Pr-Bȝst.t , conventionally pronounced Per-Bast but its Earlier Egyptian pronunciation can be reconstructed as /ˈpaɾu-buˈʀistit/. It is a compound of Egyptian pr (“house") and the name of the goddess Bastet ; thus the phrase means "House of Bast". In later forms of Egyptian, sound shifts had altered the pronunciation. In Bohairic Coptic,

2805-502: The third millennium BCE, where she is depicted as either a fierce lioness or a woman with the head of a lioness. Two thousand years later, during the Third Intermediate Period of Egypt ( c.  1070 –712 BC), Bastet began to be depicted as a domestic cat or a cat-headed woman. Scribes of the New Kingdom and later eras began referring to her with an additional feminine suffix , as Bastet . The name change

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2860-529: Was an ancient Egyptian city. Bubastis is often identified with the biblical Pi-Beseth ( Hebrew : פי-בסת py-bst , Ezekiel 30:17). It was the capital of its own nome , located along the River Nile in the Delta region of Lower Egypt , and notable as a center of worship for the feline goddess Bastet , and therefore the principal depository in Egypt of mummies of cats . Its ruins are located in

2915-401: Was as large as it had been since the New Kingdom. Pharaohs of the dynasty, among them Taharqa, built or restored temples and monuments throughout the Nile valley, including at Memphis, Karnak, Kawa, and Jebel Barkal. The 25th Dynasty ended with its rulers retreating to their spiritual homeland at Napata . It was there (at El-Kurru and Nuri) that all 25th Dynasty pharaohs were buried under

2970-493: Was associated with protective ointments, among other things. The name of the material known as alabaster might, through Greek, come from the name of the goddess. This association would have come about much later than when the goddess was a protective lioness goddess, however, and is useful only in deciphering the origin of the term, alabaster. B C D F G H I K M N P Q R S T U W James P. Allen instead derives

3025-478: Was seen as defender of the king , and consequently of the sun god, Ra. Along with other deities such as Hathor , Sekhmet, and Isis, Bastet was associated with the Eye of Ra . She has been depicted as fighting the evil snake named Apep , an enemy of Ra. In addition to her solar connections, she was also related to Wadjet , one of the oldest Egyptian goddesses from the Southern Delta who was dubbed "eye of

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