In fact, the Egyptian cat god is actually a cat and it is the Egyptian goddess Bastet or Bast, protector of the human and home, and goddess of happiness and harmony.This Egyptian divinity had its temple of worship in the city of Bubastis, in the eastern region of the Nile Delta, and that is where a multitude of mummified felines were found in tombs to suit them because they were considered as reincarnations of Bastet on Earth, so they could live in the temples, they were sacred cats and at to die, they were mummified as if it were a pharaoh or an Egyptian noble.
If you want to know what is the name of the god cat Egyptian really, as the Egyptian goddess lioness became the Egyptian goddess cat and how cats were considered in Ancient Egypt, keep reading this article d and Animals and Pets Online and solve all your doubts.
The myth of Sekhmet, the lioness goddess
As in all religions, there are a number of myths that serve to explain things that a priori are difficult to understand, and this is the case of the myth of Sekhmet or Sehkmet, the Egyptian goddess embodied in a human with the head of a lioness and alter-ego of the Egyptian cat goddess.
According to legend, one day Sejmet's father, the great Egyptian god Ra (creator of the world, of humans and of the gods), being an old man sent one of his eyes to see what was going on the earth.When he saw that after having created them, humans showed him disrespect and they mocked him by disobeying the laws he had created, Ra became very angry and decided to punish them by sending his beloved and powerful daughter Sekhmet to Earth.
When he came down, Sekhmet became a lioness with a thirst of incalculable blood , so he began to devour every human he saw.And the more blood he drank, the more thirsty he was.It was then that his father Ra ys His brothers began to worry because, what they wanted was to give a lesson of humility to humans but not to extinguish them.So God Ra spoke with Sekhmet but this did not pay attention to him and continued devouring all the humans who crossed on his way.
As Sekhmet was not right, the god Ra came up with a good idea to tame her, and one afternoon when the lioness goddess was taking a nap, she ordered humans to pour on his side a lot of pomegranate wine (famous for getting drunk very fast) so that when he woke up he drank it thinking it was a pool of blood, and so it was.When the Egyptian goddess Sejmet woke up and saw that puddle of wine, thinking that it was blood, he drank it all and got drunk very fast, which made him realize the catastrophe he was causing on Earth and entered into reason, becoming the Egyptian cat goddess Bastet That's why they say that the two goddesses, Bastet and Sehkmet, are opposite and represent the balance of the forces of nature, being Sejmet the destructive part and Bastet the pacifying part.
The Egyptian cat goddess: Bastet
Thus, the Egyptian goddess Bastet, represented as a human with a cat's head or simply as a domestic black cat, became a protector of humans, of the home and of magic.It is said that he protected mortals from plagues, diseases, evil spirits and evil eyes and symbolized the joy of living.He also protected both families and domestic animals that they lived in the houses, especially the cats, who were considered their representations on Earth.
Every year the Egyptian cat goddess wanted a festival in her honor to be held in which she drank a lot of wine from grenades, so that humans got drunk without a brake and made great bacchanalia.Even if the Egyptian cat goddess also became a symbol of fertility and motherhood and was a protector of pregnant women.Normally she was represented with a musical instrument called sistro, since he loved it see how humans played music and danced in his honor, that's why he is also considered the goddess of the music and dance .
But be careful, because if humans did not fulfill their wishes Bastet could be enraged and be as bad as Sekhmet, hence the duality between the tender and peaceful kitten, and the fierce and violent lioness that she could become.Being her father Ra a solar god, Bastet personified the warm rays of the Sun and all the beneficial powers they provided, unlike the scorching heat represented by Sekhmet.Likewise, the Egyptian cat goddess was also considered the "Lady of the East" which is where the Sun rises, as opposed to the lioness goddess also known as "Lady of the West", which is where the king star dies.
Cats in Ancient Egypt
The first test that demonstrates the coexistence of cats with the Egyptians dates back to the seventh millennium BC, in a tomb of the predinastic cemetery of Mostaggeda in which they found a human and a cat together inside.the experts, the Egyptians tried to tame all the animals they found but it was not until the third millennium BC that they only got it with the cats.While they managed to tame them , the humans admired the character and independence of the mininos, so they were treated as companions and not as an inferior race, knowing that they could not be their owners but their friends.
So, the cats helped the Egyptians to end the rats and other rodents that entered their homes in search of harvested food, so thanks to them, humans had food throughout the year.Years later, cats in Ancient Egypt were also used to hunt mostly birds, so that their They replaced the dog in these labors.
Humans admired the mysterious, calm and tender but sometimes fierce and challenging character of cats, and the ability to hunt their prey with great agility and elegance.the Sacred Book of the Dead, the Egyptians believed that Ra, the god of the Sun creator of all things, took the defensive form of a cat to destroy with a knife the snake Apophis, god of absolute evil, in the Ished tree of Heliopolis "the night the enemies of the Lord of the Universe were destroyed", so that not only the reincarnations of the goddess Bastet were considered but also of her father Ra (the Egyptian cat god ) and so Therefore, cats in Ancient Egypt were sacred .
Consequently, the Miw or Mau ("cat" in Egyptian) were worshiped and much appreciated by the ancient Egyptians, who they preferred to starve to death than to eat them.Besides being buried with their owners, mummified couple to be reborn in the hereafter like them and buried with their corresponding funeral rite, the laws of Egypt were very protective and killing a cat was punishable by the death penalty.
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