Statue of the goddess Bastet (Late Period, c. 600 BCE) by Artist unknownNeues Museum, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin
Cat memes, cat cafes, cat wine, cat spas – if you think people are crazy about cats today, they were super crazy about them in Ancient Egypt.
Felines were worshipped – not just for their godlike mouse-catching abilities.
Bastet, human, cat-headed (Late Period, 664–332 BCE) by unknownNeues Museum, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin
Bastet was a goddess in cat form, daughter of the sun god Ra and revered by the Egyptians as the goddess of joy, dance, music, festivals and – because Ancient Egyptian music festivals were a lot like ours – love, sexuality and fertility.
Bronze figure of a seated catBritish Museum
"Bubasteia" was the cheerfully debauched annual celebration of Bastet. Egyptians travelled by boat from all over the kingdom to the city of Bubastis.
Every time they passed a town, Greek historian Herodotus tells us, the women would “stand up and expose their genitals ... More wine is drunk at this feast than in the entire rest of the year.”
Statue of the goddess Bastet (Late Period, c. 600 BCE) by Artist unknownNeues Museum, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin
Bastet, then, was embraced by the kind of people who embraced life, those who
knew life is short and probably believed that cats were the truest symbol of #YOLN, or “You Only Live Nine times” – the cat version of #YOLO.
#HistoryOfUs series
Staatliche Museen zu Berlin – Preußischer Kulturbesitz
www.smb.museum
