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Egyptian Goddesses - B, C, D, E, F & G
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Bahet
Goddess of wealth and abundance.
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Bast
The ancient Egyptian cat goddess, Bast was the patron goddess of pleasure
and music, also offering protection against contagious diseases and evil
spirits. The Mother of all cats, Egypt's most sacred animal.
Bubastis, Her Holy city was home to the land's greatest temple. Cats were
taken to the Holy city upon their deaths, where they were embalmed in
Sacred Temples and buried. Originally in the Nile delta, she was the Lion
Goddess of Sunset, symbolizing the fertilizing force of the Sun's rays.
She ruled pleasure and dancing, music and joy, and was the bestower of
mental and physical health.
Hundreds of thousands of her worshippers would gather in Bubastis, where
they were greeted by flutes. It was a great celebration - worship services
and also a vast trade fair.
Bast, the Sacred Cat, symbolized the moon in its function of making a
woman fruitful, with swelling womb. She was also a fierce protectress
of children, and was invoked by those wishing offspring. As a sun goddess
she represents the warm, life giving power of the sun. Like a cat, she
was admired for her agility and strength. A goddess of the home and of
the domestic cat, although she sometimes took on the war-like aspect of
a lioness.
She was the daughter of the sun god Re, though sometimes regarded as the
daughter of Amun. The consort of Ptah and mother of the lion-god Mihos;
Bast was also associated with the 'eye of Re', acting as the instrument
of the sun god's vengeance.
She was depicted as a cat or in human form with the head of a cat, often
holding the sacred rattle known as the sistrum. An important deity in
the home (since cats were prized pets) and also important in the iconography
(since papyri usually show the serpents which attack the sun being killed
by cats). In later Egyptian mythology Bast is also a patroness of luxury
and pleasures.
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Bat
(Bata) The Egyptian cow goddess of fertility, primarily worshipped in
Upper Egypt. Bat was depicted as a cow or in human form with the ears
and horns of a cow.
Baubo
A Ptolemaic Egyptian fertility figure who displays her genitals in the
manner of Sheela-na-Gig. Baubos were often found in women's chambers,
possibly connected with a fecundity and childbirth cult at Bubastis
Berenice
The wife of Ptolemy Soter, who promised the gods she would cut off her
beautiful hair if her husband returned safely from war. He did, and upon
his return shecut off her hair ans hung it in the temple of Arsinoe. It
disappeared from the temple, and appeared in the heavens as the constellation
Coma Berenices.
Beset
Beset was a goddess of ancient Egyptian mythology. She was the female
version of the dwarf-god Bes. She protected people from evil spirits,
snakes, and misfortune. Beset was also a goddess of human pleasures, including
music, dance, and jollity. Beset had a protruding tongue, bow legs, and
the ears, mane, and tail of a lion.
Buto
A solar cobra Goddess, the personification of Ra's retributive power and,
as such, an aspect of the cleansing and purifying power of the sun's heat.
She is regarded as a primary defender of authority, especially royal,
and is a tutelary Goddess of Lower Egypt. She also has some connections
with maternal powers, in that she is considered the wetnurse of Horus,
as well as the mother of Nefertum.
Candace
Title of the hereditary queens of the desert empire of Meroe. One of them
led an army of 10,000 rebels against the Roman occupation of Egypt.
Chensit
Another serpent goddess of lower Egypt. She is pictured with the crown
of Hathor or with Maât's feather.
Djet
One of the two deities holding up the pillars of the sky, the other being
Neheh. |
Edjo
A serpent goddess of the Delta, a symbol and protrectress of Lower Egypt,
the counterpart of Nekhbet in Upper Egypt, worn as part of the king's
crown.
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Êpet
Goddess protector of children. She is pictured as being a hippopotamus
with woman's breasts and lion's feet, usually carrying a crocodile on
her back.
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Ermutu
A goddess of childbirth.
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Ernutet
Goddess with the head of a cobra, wearing a headdress with a solar disk
between two horns.
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Gate-Keepers,
The
Guardian goddesses of the gate to the underworld. The dead must say their
names before they are allowed to pass through. Aakhabit and Clother are
mentioned in the Book of the Dead. The others are called by titles like
"Lady of the Light", etc.
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