"Bastet is the goddess of protection, pleasure, and the bringer of good health. She has the head of a cat and a slender female body.
Bastet is the daughter of Ra, sister of Sekhmet, the wife of Ptah, and the mother of Mihos. Since the Second Dynasty, Bastet was worshiped as a deity, most commonly in Lower Egypt. Her form and powers changed over the years.
It was believed that every day she would ride through the sky with her father, the sun god Ra. As his boat pulled the sun through the sky she would watch over and protect him. At night, she would turn into a cat to protect Ra from his greatest enemy, the serpent Apep.
Due to her protective duties, she was nicknamed the Lady of the East, Goddess of the Rising Sun, and the Sacred and All Seeing Eye.
She is also known as the Goddess of the Moon and was thought to be the eye of the moon and the eye of Ra.
Bastet is still worshipped today and her protection is believed by some to be cast over modern cats."
Bastet was originally a fierce lioness warrior goddess of the sun worshiped throughout most of ancient Egyptian history, but later she became Bastet, the cat goddess that is familiar today. She then was 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 is the 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, sometimes she was called "eye of 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.
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