Bastet (Bast) was the most honored feline deity in Ancient Egypt. The cult of Bastet started around the town of Bubastis, located in the Eastern Delta in Lower Egypt (around 3,200 B.C.), and was an important town from the Old Kingdom through the Late Period. During early Egyptian times the city was called Per-Bast which translates into “the domain of Bast”. Later the city was called Bubastis and is today known as Tell Basta. Bastet was worshipped throughout other regions of the Egyptian region as well. Bast was worshipped in Memphis (during the Old Kingdom), where she was associated with Sekhmet; in Heliopolis (during the Old Kingdom) where she was called the “Daughter of Tem” (connected to Tefnut); in a city called “Hill of Bast” in the precinct of Mut in Thebes (during the New Kingdom) and in the city of Nit during the Late Period. Festivals celebrating Bastet were held in the cities of Bubastis, Memphis, Thebes (Luxor) and Esna.
Names of the elaborate festivals of Bastet included: “Procession of Bastet”, “Bastet Protects the Two Lands”, “Bastet Goes Forth from Per-Bast”, “Bastet Appears Before Ra” and the “Festival of Hathor and Bastet”. Her main festivals were celebrated in April and May in Bubastis. Her festivals were characterized by music, dancing and wine and were some of the most popular festivals in Egypt at the time. For some festivals, over 700,000 people came from all over Egypt, often in boats, sailing along the Nile.
In Bubastis, the festival began by making sacrifices to Bastet. The Temple of Bast stood in the town center so that it could be seen from everywhere and stood on raised ground. The outside wall of the temple was decorated with pictures of animals and inside the temple was a courtyard, planted with a grove of trees surrounding her shrine. Worshippers came from all over Egypt, often leaving offerings, bronze statues, amulets and mummified cats in her temple. Thousands of these cats were later found in underground crypts where her temple once stood.
During the days of celebration, the Egyptians spent many days making music, dancing and being joyful. Worshippers went to her temple playing instruments, beating drums, shaking tambourines, carrying sistras (sacred rattles), singing and dancing through the streets. On the last night of the festival, a single light would be lit inside the Temple of Bast and from there the light would spread through the town, carried by devotees. Prayers throughout the night would be accompanied by music and incense. Bast was important in worship and the Egyptian people would make sacrifices to her of spices, water, wine, milk, bread and meat. Gifts of gold, diamonds, silver, perfumes and other riches would also be given. The people of Egypt would also dance and sing to her because was the goddess of both dance and song.
Bastet’s father was Ra, the God of the Sun and All Creation. Hathor (Sekment), the cow-headed god of the sky and women, was also a daughter of Ra. Hathor had two sons named Nefertem (meaning 'water lily' or 'the sun' or 'he who is beautiful'), the God of Healing, and Maahes, a solar lion-headed God of War. Bastet did not have a mother because Ra, as the Creator deity, was called “The Great He-She” and was considered to be able to be both male and female. Bastet's husband was Ptah, the god of Craftsmen, Rebirth and Creation. When associated with Isis, Bastet was sometimes called the “Soul of Isis”.
These familial associations are somewhat misleading, however, because Egyptian gods shared relationships beyond traditional family contexts. Sekhmet, Bastet and dozens of other goddesses were considered to be “Eyes-of-Ra”. Bastet and Sekhmet were paired, for example, but they were paired geographically and not as opposite personalities of Bastet. The main place of Bastet’s worship was in Lower Egypt while Sekhmet was worshipped primarily in Upper Egypt. Egyptians traditionally associated Bastet as a “She of the North” and Sekhmet as a “She of the South”. Sometimes Bastet was also called “Lady of the East” (Protectress of the Eastern Delta) while Sekhmet was called the “Lady of the West” (Protectress of the Western Delta).
Ra
"This article is about the Egyptian Sun god Ra or Re. For the chemical element, see Radium"
In Egyptian mythology, Ra was the god of the sun. He was the most important god in Ancient Egypt. He had many names, such as Amun-Ra, and Ra-Horakhty. It was said he was born each morning in the East, and died each night in the West. In the night he travelled through the underworld. This is why the west side of the Nile was known as the land of the dead. He had the head of a Falcon, the body of a man, and was the king of the Egyptian gods.
Ra was thought to be the god of the sun and creation. Ra’s name came from Re and Amun. The name Re was from Upper Egypt and the name Amun came from Lower Egypt. When Upper and Lower Egypt came together they changed the name to Amun-Re. Over thousands of years the name Amun-Re evolved into Amun-Ra and then just to Ra. From then on people called him Re or Ra. Ra used to mean “mouth” in the Egyptian language. Some names are: Re, the Creator, Khepry, etc.
Ra has many forms. His best-known form is the man with the head of a falcon and the sun disk above him. He may also be depicted as a scarab beetle or a man. One is Amun-Ra, which is a ram and the other, Ra-Hakorthaty which is a sky sun god.
Some time around the Middle Kingdom, Ra and Osiris became friends. This was unusual because Osiris lived in the Underworld and Ra lived in the Heavens. All the other gods wanted to be friends with Ra. They hoped that if they were friends with Ra, Ra would tell them his hidden name. But Ra did have some enemies. Seth was sometimes Ra’s enemy, but Seth "did" help Ra fight Apep, a snake god. The fact that Seth helped Ra reminded all of the gods that Seth was not all bad. Isis was another enemy of Ra, she had tricked him into giving her his hidden name so her husband Osiris could be king of the gods.
The cult of Ra began to grow from around the time of the II Dynasty, establishing Ra as the sun god. By the IV Dynasty, the Pharaohs were seen as "Sons of Ra". His worship increased much in the V Dynasty, when he became a state deity. Pharaohs had pyramids, obelisks, and solar temples built in his honor.
Ra was believed to be the greatest Egyptian god when it came to powers. His powers live in his hidden name. Only he knew his hidden name so only he could use the powers. It was said that he had the best powers throughout the land. He could make anything, he made people, he made the world, and he made the heavens. That is how great his powers were. One day Isis wanted to have his powers so she sent a serpent to poison him on his daily walk. The serpents venomous bite was so painful that Ra gave in and told her his secret name of creation.Then Isis banished Ra to the Duat, (Spirit World), so Osiris her husband could be king.
Ra's daughter with Nut (his granddaughter) was named Hathor, the goddess of love. Ra had two children Shu, the god of air and Tefnut, the goddess of morning dew. They had two children named Nut, the goddess of the sky and Geb, the god of earth. They had four children named Isis, the goddess of home, Nephthys, the goddess of mourning, Set, the god of the desert, and Osiris, god of the afterlife. They paired up and had two more children, Anubis, god of embalming, and Horus, god of the sky.
Jim Morrison
James Douglas (Jim) Morrison (December 8, 1943 - July 3, 1971) was an American musician. He was the lead singer of rock band The Doors.
Morrison was of English, Scottish and Irish descent. His father was an officer for the United States Navy. This meant that he moved around very often. Morrison did not have many friends and read many books. When he went to high school in 1962, his teacher was amazed by his culture. In 1964 he went to the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).