Egyptian

Tap or drag

Egyptian

Bastet

The Feline Goddess of the Home

Domain: Home, Cats & Protection
Alignment: Neutral Good
Element: Light
Relics of Power: Aegis of Bastet

Speak with Bastet

The full Codex

5 sections of this entry are open to everyone: the summary, the people, the symbols, the lineage and the sources. The other 9 (Name and epithets, In the ancient sources, The myths, Worship and archaeology, How the god was depicted, What scholars debate, After antiquity, Did you know?, Codex relic) are part of the full Codex: PRO opens the whole study of all 500 deities, and without a subscription you can read one full entry a day, just like in the app.

See PRO Get the app

The People

People

Ancient Egyptians

Region

Nile Valley, Egypt

Period

c. 3100 BC – 400 AD

The Egyptian gods were worshipped for over three millennia along the banks of the Nile, with monumental temples at Karnak, Luxor, and Heliopolis. The pharaohs were held to be divine, and life revolved around cosmic order (Maat) and preparation for the afterlife. The cult endured until the rise of Christianity in Roman Egypt.

At the Opet festival, Amun's sacred barque sailed from Karnak to Luxor amid celebrating crowds. In the temples, priests woke, dressed, and fed the god's statue every day, and the Beautiful Festival of the Valley carried the deities to visit the shore of the dead.

At a glance

Bastet is the Egyptian feline goddess of domestic protection, fertility, motherhood, dance, and joyful celebration. Pacified from destructive solar wrath, she guarded households against malevolent spirits, venomous serpents, and contagious disease.

6 min read · Reviewed on September 25, 2026 · How we research

Sacred symbols

Cat, the sistrum, the basket and the protective amulet

Family

Parents

Siblings

HathorSekhmetTefnut

Bastet

Unions

Ptah

Children

Maahes (The Lion God)Nefertum

Genealogy according to Textos das Pirâmides, Enunciação 452; Livro dos Mortos, Capítulos 17 e 125; Heródoto, Histórias, Livro 2, capítulos 59-60

Sources and further reading

Primary sources

Budge, E. A. Wallis (trad.), The Book of the Dead (The Papyrus of Ani). read
Budge, E. A. Wallis, Legends of the Gods: The Egyptian Texts. read
Wilson, Epiphanius (ed.), Egyptian Literature. read

Studies

Richard H. Wilkinson, The Complete Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt. 2003.
Geraldine Pinch, Egyptian Mythology. 2002.
George Hart, The Routledge Dictionary of Egyptian Gods and Goddesses. 2005.
Ian Shaw, The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt. 2000.

Name and epithets

The ancient Egyptian theonym 'Bastet' (written in hieroglyphs as 'BꜢst.t') is etymologically bound to the sealed alabaster ointment jar ('bꜢs'), denoting her archaic role as 'She of the Perfume Vessel' or 'The Ointment…

In the ancient sources

Pyramid Texts, c. 2350 BCE (Old Kingdom). Archaic liturgical inscriptions depicting the deceased king being nourished by the sacred maternal milk of Bastet to achieve immortality. Book of the Dead (Papyrus of Ani), c.

The myths

The Pacification of the Solar Lioness and the Awakening of the Cat. When humanity plotted wicked rebellion against the aging earthly reign of the solar creator Ra, the god plucked the burning solar eye from his brow and…

Worship and archaeology

The veneration of Bastet stood among the most joyful and universally embraced religious movements in ancient Egypt, reaching spectacular imperial prominence during the 22nd Libyan Dynasty (c.

How the god was depicted

Bastet's canonical iconography transformed dramatically over Egyptian dynastic history. During the Old and Middle Kingdoms, she was depicted as a fierce lioness-headed woman holding a staff.

What scholars debate

The Feline Duality: Wrath versus Nurturing Warmth. Religious historians and psychologists examine the complementary duality between Bastet and Sekhmet.

After antiquity

In classical antiquity, Bastet was identified by Greek travelers with Artemis, goddess of the hunt and maiden protectress of childbirth, inspiring widespread appreciation for her domestic vigilance across Hellenistic Eg…

Did you know?

When a pet cat died of natural causes in an ancient Egyptian home, every occupant of the house shaved their eyebrows completely in deep ceremonial mourning, weeping until the animal was interred.

Codex relic

Aegis of Bastet. A protective amulet that guards homes, mothers, and children against disease and evil spirits.

The rest of this scroll is sealed

The legends, the myth, the cult and relics are part of the full Codex. You can open 1 full entry for free every day; to open all 500 deities with no limits and no ads, subscribe to Codex PRO.

See Codex PRO Get it on Google Play