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A new look at the goddess Bastet bronze statue in Zagazig University Archaeological Museum

Research Department
Research Journal
The 14th Conference Book of the General Union of Arab Archaeologists
Research Publisher
General Union of Arab Archaeologists
Research Rank
3
Research Vol
14
Research Year
2011
Research_Pages
1- 13
Research Abstract

The goddess Bastet, mistress of Bubastis, was initially depicted as a lioness but in later periods her worshippers, particularly in Lower Egypt, preferred to see her in the form of a cat. In her temple at Bubastis they dedicated hundreds of bronze figurines in varying forms, hoping to gain the goddess' favor. The Zagazig University Archaeological Museum statuette represents the goddess as a cat, adorned with a collar from which hangs a wADyt-eye amulet. The ears are pierced and no doubt originally held (silver or gold) earrings, while the eyes are inlaid with red copper. The base has two projecting tangs for attachment. The statuette may have been fixed to a shelf as a votive offering in a shrine or, as the writer suggest, secured to a divine standard and carried by priests during temple processions. So this paper tries to highlight upon this new suggested purpose or use of the Zagazig bronze statuette in comparison with the already existed standards of the goddess Bastet, by displaying gathered data from their occurrence, in three dimensions and iconographical documents.