I am Bastet, Lady of Bubastis, Where I am, there is music, dance, and the soft tread of cats.
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The ancient city of Bubastis, home of Bastet
The ancient city of Bubastis was the worship center for Bastet. Located in the northeastern part of the Nile Delta, this area boasts the world’s longest river, known for sustaining humanity for millennia. Today, Bubastis has the more colorful name of Zaqaziq. So, our journey will take us to this part of the Nile Delta. As mentioned in the intro video, Egypt didn’t train cats first, that honor belongs to China which first domesticated cats 1500 years earlier. Interestingly, the Ancient Chinese revered a cat goddess, Li Shou, assigned to rule the world which she relinquished to humans due to disinterest. However Hollywood has left us an indelible image of associating cats with ancient Egypt, and when has Hollywood ever been wrong? (Sarcasm intended)
Bastet was revered as the goddess of home, fertility, and protection, and she was often depicted as a lioness or as a woman with the head of a lioness. She was believed to bring joy, prosperity, and good fortune to her worshippers in the region of Lower Egypt. Nowadays, that ancient city is recognized as Zaqaziq, an intriguingly named town that serves its residents well with top-notch education, beautiful farms, and lots of industry. Alas, the modern town has forgotten about its great ancient god in terms of monuments.