She is sometimes described as a guide and assistant to the dead, although this is not one of her main duties. She is the daughter of the sun god Ra, which is related to the concepts of the eye of Ra (the all-seeing eye) and the distant goddess (the goddess who left Ra and came back to bring transformation). Buster is one of the most popular gods in ancient Egypt, because she is the protector of everyone's family and clan.
The meaning of the name of the goddess Bastiato
Her first name was B'sst, then changed to Ubaste, then buster, and then the goddess Bastito; ; The meaning of this name is unknown, or at least not universally recognized. Geraldine Pinch claims that "her name may mean that she is in an ointment jar" because she is related to the protection and protection of ointment (1 15). The Greeks associated her with their goddess Artemis themis themis, thinking that because Artemis themis themis had a twin brother (Apollo), so should Buster. They associate Apollo with Horus. Horus is the son of Helu-Sa-Aset, the so-called goddess Baaset (the soul of Isis), which will be a literal translation of her name, plus the second "T" for female (Aset is one of the Egyptian names of Isis).
However, Buster is sometimes associated with Naftum, the god of perfume and fragrance. Naftum is considered as her son, which further associates the meaning of her name with the ointment jar. The most obvious understanding is that at first, the meaning of this name was similar to Ubasto in the ointment jar, but the Greeks associated it with the most popular goddess in Egypt, so they changed the meaning to the soul of Isis. Even so, scholars have not reached an agreement on the meaning of her name.
society
At least from the 5th century BC, Buster was very popular among men and women after the second dynasty of Egypt (2890-2670 BC), and her worship was concentrated in the city of Bubastis. She was originally portrayed as a woman with a lion's head and was closely related to the goddess Semite. However, as the portrait of this god depicts her more and more actively, the image of Buster softens over time, showing more as a daily companion and assistant of the savage avenger than in the early form. Scholar Geraldine Pinch wrote:
Starting from the pyramid text, the goddess Bastiato has the dual characteristics of raising a mother and a terrible avenger. It mainly appears in coffin books, necromancer books and demons in medical spells. It is said that Buster's Slayer will bring plague and other disasters to mankind. A spell suggested pretending to be "the son of buster" to avoid catching the plague. ( 1 15)
Buster is sometimes depicted in art as having a litter of kittens under her feet, but her most popular depiction is a sitting cat staring at the front.
Although she is greatly respected, as her two titles show, she is equally frightening: the woman who fears and the woman who kills. She is associated with Mau, a god cat as a part of Ra, as well as the goddess of justice and Mafdet, the first cat god in Egyptian history.
Both Bastiato and Sehmet inherited their early forms from Madet, becoming the cat guards of the innocent and the avengers of the wronged. This association can be continued in the description of Bast's son Maghess, who is the protector of the innocent. He is depicted as a lion or a lion with a long knife.
In the relationship between the goddess Bastiato and Mao, she sometimes saw her cut off the head of Apophis, the enemy of Ra, with her claws. Mao's most widely known image. As time went on, buster became more like a family partner. She has lost all traces of the lion's form and is often depicted as a domestic cat or a woman. That cat often holds a cat on its head. She is sometimes depicted in art as having a litter of kittens at her feet, but her most popular depiction is a sitting cat staring at the front.
Roles in Religion and Iconology
As early as the 3rd century BC, Buster appeared in Lower Egypt as a vengeful lioness. By the time of pyramid writing (2400-2300 BC), she was associated with the king of Egypt. She was a nanny when he was young and a protector when he was growing up. In the later coffin text (2 134-2040 BC), she kept this role, but was also regarded as the protector of the dead. Scholar Richard H. Wilkinson (Richard H. Wilkinson) commented:
In the earliest known form, as depicted in the stone tools of the second dynasty, Buster was depicted as a woman with a lioness without mane. However, the image of the goddess has changed, perhaps because her nature has begun to be considered more gentle than other lioness gods. ( 178)
She is located in the worship center of Bubastis in Lower Egypt, becoming one of the richest and most prosperous cities in Egypt, because people from all over the country go there to pay tribute to the goddess and bury the dead cat's body in this city. In Egyptian art, her portraits draw lessons from the earlier goddesses Mafud and Hassall, a goddess related to Sehmet, and she is also closely related to Bast.
In some statues, West Stourm appears in the hands of the goddess Bastiato, and has obvious connection with Hassall. Traditionally, Hassall is believed to carry this instrument. Hassall is another goddess who has undergone a dramatic transformation from a bloodthirsty destroyer to a gentle friend of human beings, because she was originally Sehmet, a lioness, and Ra sent her to the earth to destroy human sins. In buster's case, although she became gentle, she did not reduce the danger to those who violated the law or abused others.
The story of Setina and Taboo.
The story of Sethna and Taboo (called the First Sethna or Sethna as part of my work) is the middle part of the Egyptian literary works held by Rome Egypt in Cairo Museum, Egypt, history and present. The protagonist of Sethna's story is Prince Sethna Kemvas, who takes Puta KemWeseth (LC 12865438+ 0225 BC), the son of Ramses II (R. 1279- 1265438). Khaemweset is known as the "first Egyptian scientist" and is famous for restoring and protecting ancient Egyptian monuments. In Ptolemy dynasty, Khaemweset was honored as a saint and magician. Although this story can be interpreted in many different ways, Geraldine Pinch believes that this part of the story can be most clearly understood as an example of how Buster punished criminals.
In this story, the young prince Sethna stole a book from the grave, even though the residents in the grave begged him not to do so. Soon after, he saw a beautiful woman with her servant and her desire near the temple of Butha in Memphis. He asked about her and learned that her name was taboo, Father Buster's daughter. He had never seen a more beautiful woman in his life. He sent her a note asking her to buy ten gold coins on his bed, but she made a counter-offer, asking him to meet her at the Bast Temple in Sakala where she lived, and then he could get everything he wanted.
Sethna went to her villa, where he was anxious to deal with the affairs at hand, but Taboo had some rules. First, she told him that he must give her all his property and belongings. He was swallowed up by desire, agreed to this and began to hug her. But she stopped him, told him that he had to send the child and signed the document agreeing to do so, so that there would be no problem in legal transfer. Sedna agreed and sent for his children. When they signed the document, Tubbu disappeared into another room and came back in a very transparent linen dress, so that he could see "every part of her body", and his desire for her was almost uncontrollable.
With the signing of the document, he moved to her again, but, no, she had a third request: his children must be killed so that they would not try to break the agreement and involve her in a protracted court battle. Sethna immediately agreed to this; His child was murdered and his body was thrown in the street. Sedna took off his clothes, took Tabu with her and quickly took her to the bedroom. When he hugged her, she suddenly disappeared screaming-just like the surrounding rooms and villas-while Sedna stood naked in the street, his penis stuck in the clay pot.
Then Pharaoh came and Prince Sedna was completely humiliated. Pharaoh told him that his child was still alive and that everything he experienced was an illusion. Sedna later learned that he had been punished for his illegal behavior in the grave and quickly returned the book. He further compensated the grave residents and went to another city to retrieve the mummies buried there. These mummies are part of the families of grave residents, so that they can be reunited in one place.
Although scholars have different views on the person represented by Tabu, her close connection with Buster (the daughter of a goddess priest) makes this god a very possible candidate. Taboo's predatory nature, once she puts Sethna where she wants him, will remind people that cats are playing with mice. Geraldine Pinch concluded that Tubbu was "the incarnation of the goddess Bastiato herself, playing her traditional role and punishing human beings who offended the gods" (1 17). In this story, the goddess Bastiato incarnates as a beautiful woman to punish a grave robber, but this story is also a warning to men who only regard women as sexual objects, because they never know whether they are really in front of the goddess, and what might happen if they offend her.
Worship of buster
This goddess is worshipped mainly in Bubastis, but acts as a guardian in Sakala and other places. Wilkinson wrote:
The popularity of the goddess increased with the passage of time and enjoyed a high status in the later period and the Greek and Roman times. The main worship center of this god is the city of Bubastis in the eastern delta. Although only the outline of the Bastille Temple remains, Herodotus visited this place in the 5th century BC and praised its grandeur. Herodotus also described the Bast Festival, which he claimed was the most exquisite festival of all religious festivals in Egypt, and a large number of people participated in unrestrained dancing, drinking and carnival. ( 178)
Herodotus is the main source of information about the worship of the goddess Bastiato. Unfortunately, she didn't introduce her worship in detail. It seems that both men and women have served as her priests. Like other Egyptian gods, her temple in Bubastis is the focus of the city, providing services from medical treatment to consultation to food distribution. Herodotus described this temple:
Except for the entrance, it is located on an island; Two different channels approached it from the Nile, and after reaching the entrance of the temple, they bypassed it from opposite sides; Each of them is a hundred feet wide and is shaded by trees. This temple is located in the city center, overlooking the whole city; Because the level of the city has improved, but the level of the temple has remained unchanged, so it can be seen from the outside. Stone wall, engraved with numbers, running around it; Inside is a tall forest, surrounded by a templo mayor, inside is the image of the goddess; The temple is square, with one furlong on each side. A stone road about three furong long leads to the entrance, crosses the market eastward and reaches the temple of Hermes; This road is about 400 feet wide and is surrounded by trees leading to heaven. (History, II. 138).
The Egyptian people take part in the grand Bast Festival held in Bubastis every year, which is one of the biggest and most popular activities in a year. Geraldine Pinch quoted Herodotus as saying: "During the annual festival in Bubastis, women got rid of all the shackles. They celebrate Goddess Day by drinking, dancing, making music and showing their genitals "(1 16). Herodotus' description of women's "lifting skirts" has something to do with getting rid of social constraints and the birth of goddesses. Like many other festivals all over Egypt, Bast's celebrations, like revelers in modern Europe, are during the carnival or when taboos are abandoned in the United States. Herodotus vividly described people who went to Bubastis to attend festivals:
People will cross this river on their way to Bubastis. There are many people, men and women, on every boat. Some women make sounds with rattles, others keep playing flutes, while the rest of the women and men sing and clap their hands. When they go to Bubastis along the river, whenever they approach any other town, they will park their boat on the shore; Then some women do as I say, and some women laugh at the women in town. Some people danced, others stood up and lifted their skirts. Whenever they are near any riverside town, they will do this. But when they arrive in Bubastis, they will celebrate with great sacrifices, and they will drink more wine than in the whole year on this festival. Traditionally, men and women (excluding children) gathered there, and the number reached 700 thousand, just as people in this place said. (History, Volume II, page 60)
Although Herodotus claimed that this festival surpassed all other festivals in grandeur and excess, there are actually many festivals celebrating many gods that can claim to be the same. However, the popularity of this goddess makes her celebration have special significance in Egyptian culture. In the above paragraph, Herodotus wrote how the women on the ship laughed at the women on the shore to encourage them to give up their daily work and participate in the celebration of the Great Goddess. In fact, Buster's popularity is second only to Isis. Once she crossed Greece to Rome, she was equally popular among the Romans and later subjects of the Roman Empire.
Buster's enduring reputation
The popularity of the goddess Bastiato stems from her role as a woman and protector of the family. As mentioned above, she is as popular as men and women, because every man has a mother, sister, girlfriend, wife or daughter who benefits from the care provided by the goddess Bastito. In addition, Egyptian women are highly valued and enjoy almost equal rights, which almost ensures that a goddess who protects women and is in charge of women's secrets enjoys a particularly high status.
Cats are also very popular in Egypt, because they can keep houses away from pests (thus controlling diseases), protect crops from unwanted animals, and provide their owners with quite maintenance-free companionship. One of the most important aspects of Buster Festival is to send the cat's mummy to her temple. When the temple was excavated in 1887 and 1889, more than 300,000 mummified cats were found. Commenting on her popularity, Wilkinson wrote:
Cat amulets and cat nests are popular New Year gifts. Buster's name is often engraved on the small "New Year's flask", which may be to arouse the goddess as a fertility gift, because Buster, like other lionesses, is regarded as a protector and can fight against the dark forces related to the "Devil's Day" in Egypt. ( 178)
Bathurst was so popular that in 525 BC, when the Persians in Cambyses Ⅱ invaded Egypt, he used this goddess to force Egypt to surrender. Knowing their love for animals, especially cats, he asked his soldiers to draw the image of Buster on their shields, then arranged all the animals they could find and drove them to Perrusi, a key city in front of the army. The Egyptians refused to fight for fear of hurting animals and offending buster, so they surrendered.
Historian Paulia Yunus (2nd century AD) wrote that Cambyses Ⅱ, after winning, threw the secret to the Egyptians and despised them for giving up their city for animals. However, Egyptians' worship of cats and Baxter was not intimidated. Her status as one of the most popular and powerful gods lasted for the rest of Egypt's history, until the Roman Empire, until, like other gods, she was eclipsed by the rise of Christianity.