Although the cult of Bast, the goddess of cats, was banned by imperial decree in 390 AD, all-inclusive tourists in Egypt are still aware of the extent to which Egyptians worshipped cats when they saw the statues. shopping tents. This cult of the cat goddess was widespread throughout Egypt and was first documented about 4,950 years ago. The Egyptians believed that cats were messengers from God and that they all had a divine destiny. They were the gateway to the spiritual world and soul seekers. That’s why they were revered, because by soothing cats, you soothed the old gods.

This cult of cat worship originated from the time when cats were first welcomed in Egyptian colonies as rodent killers. The Egyptians were farmers and kept surplus grains in barns that were overflowing with rodents. The African wild cat was a first-class rodent killer, and so it was encouraged. Over time, this excitement turned into worship in 975 BC. The Egyptians began to worship them as the god Bastet. It was considered a force of good and prosperity, a symbol of fertility and motherhood. She also had an alter ego, Sahmet, her twin sister, who was portrayed as a woman with a lioness’s head. She was the dark side of human nature; destructive forces in nature and in humanity, the negative side of the goddess. The respect that people had for cats was so great that anyone who harmed them was executed, and if the cat died, the parents shaved their eyebrows as a mark of respect. They’ll cry, too. Cats were given the best food and the best bedding.

The Egyptians believed that the cat’s face was the face of an ancient Egyptian god sent to spy on them. The cult of Bastet (or Bast) flourished for more than a thousand years. The city of Bubastis has become the center of the cat cult. Now known as Tell Basta, it is located 80 km northeast of Cairo, in the eastern Nile Delta. Today, all-inclusive visitors to Egypt can visit the ruins of the temple. This temple was filled with cats, which were carried in baskets and ritually fed. Every year on October 31, the Bison Day was held and was celebrated as a time of celebration and dancing. In the past, more than 700,000 people came to the temple on barges accompanied by flutes and drums.

Cat lovers vacationing in Egypt flocked to Alexandria in the Kom El Decca area near the train station to explore the newly discovered Temple of Bast. Built by queen Berenica II about 2,000 years ago, it contained statues of 600 cats and other Egyptian gods. A stockpile of gold coins was also discovered at the Cairo Museum.