BUBASTIS, the great name of the Egyptian goddess Bast, supposed to hold the same plaie in the Egyptian Pantheon as Artemis or Diana. The triad of Memphis consisted of three gods—Ptah or Vulcan, the Greek Hephaistos; Bast, the wife of Ptah and mother by him of Nefer-Atum, or “the good Turn;” and Sexet, formerly called Pasht, the sister or antithesis of Bast. This last goddess was also called Merienptah, or “the beloved of Ptah.” Although the names of Bast, Sexet, and Merienptah are written with different hieroglyphs, their types are exactly alike, being that of a lion-headed goddess having on her head the sun’s disk entwined by an uraeus. Sexet and Bast appear both to have personified fire acted upon by Ptah, the cosmic demiurgos, and Vulcan. Owing to the pantheistic ideas prevalent in Egypt, Bast was identified at times with Neith, the Egyptian Athene or Minerva, and Athor, the Aphrodite or Venus. Her type and attributes were also those of Tefnu or Daphne, the pupil or daughter of the sun; and it was probably from her relation to this goddess, who, with her twin brother Su or Sos, represented the Apollo and Artemis of the religious, and the Gemini, or Twins, of the zodiacal system, that Bast was identified with Diana. Bast was supposed to be the beneficent portion of the element fire and the bringer of good fortune; her sister and rival Sexet to represent the malevolent deity of the element and the bringer of ill-fortune. At a later period Bast has the head of a cat substituted for that of a lion, and holds in her hands a vase or situlus. About the time of the 26th dynasty, figures of her, made of porcelain, abound, representing the goddess seated and sometimes holding a sistrum. Her local worship was principally carried on at Bubastis, the modern Tel Basta. ...The Speos Artemidos, or Sheik Hassan, Anxtata supposed to be Letopolis near Memphis. The cat was sacred to this goddess, and mummies of this animal are found at Bubastis, the Speos Artemidos, and Thebes, sometimes in bronze or wooden figures in shape of the cat seated on a pedestal, carved in form of the vase which was the hieroglyphic name of the goddess. Connected with Bubastis were the Bubasteia or festival of the goddess, celebrated with great pomp at the city of Bubastus, and the largest and most important in Egypt. The Egyptians flocked to it by water, accompanied by music; and as many as 700,000 are said to have been present on the occasion. A nome was also named after this goddess, and the capital city called Bubastus or Bubastis was on the site of the present Tel Basta on the Bubastite branch of the Nile. In later times the canal of Necho started from it to the Red Sea, and the adjoining lands were given by Psammetichus to the Greek mercenaries. It is, however, mentioned in inscriptions of the earlier periods of history, and was an important city. Taken by the Persians under Memnon, its walls were razed, and it sunk gradually in importance. The nome struck some bronze coins of small size in the eleventh year of the Emperor Hadrian, 127 A.υ., with a goddess holding in her hands a small animal, possibly a cat. Many antiquities and remains are found in the ruins of the city.
[598 words — estimated reading time: 4 minutes]