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Who was Bastet in ancient Egyptian religion?

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A Maine Coon longhair cat with cream and white fur sits beside a tabby shorthair cat in a garden with green foliage in the background. — cat Two kinds of domestic cats.

In ancient Egyptian religion, Bastet was a prominent deity and the daughter of the sun god Re. Originally worshiped as a lioness, her nature became associated with the cat following the animal's domestication around 1500 BCE.12

As a goddess, Bastet was typically depicted as a woman with the head of a cat, often carrying a sistrum (a percussion instrument) and an aegis (a protective breastplate). She was the patron deity of Bubastis in the Nile River delta, where her festivals were celebrated with great fervor. Her cult also maintained a significant presence at Memphis.123

The cultural importance of Bastet is reflected in the thousands of bronze statuettes and cat mummies discovered at her cult sites, as well as the widespread use of cat-shaped amulets. Her worship eventually spread beyond Egypt, with traces of her cult found in various locations across Italy.12