Bastet, also called Bast, ancient Egyptian goddess worshiped in the form of a lioness and later a cat. In Egyptian mythology, Bastet (Bast) is the goddess of protection, cats, pregnancy, fertility, music, warfare and ointments. She was generally revered as the daughter of Ra the creator god and king of the Egyptian Gods. Specifically, she is often portrayed as a female cat in a seated position. Bastet was originally a fierce lioness warrior goddess of the sun worshiped throughout most of ancient Egyptian history, but later she was changed into the cat goddess that is familiar today, becoming Bastet. She then was depicted as the daughter of Ra and Isis, and the consort of Ptah, with whom she had a son Maahes. The Greeks associated her closely with their goddess Artemis and believed that, as Artemis had a twin brother (Apollo) so should Ba… The daughter of Re, the sun god, Bastet was an ancient deity whose ferocious nature was ameliorated after the domestication of the cat around 1500 bce. She was native to Bubastis in the Nile River delta but also had an important cult at Memphis. Her name was originally B'sst which became Ubaste, then Bast, then Bastet; the meaning of this name is not known or, at least, not universally agreed upon. Geraldine Pinch claims that \"her name probably means She of the Ointment Jar\" as she was associated with protection and protective ointments (115). As Bastet was the goddess of cats, she was usually depicted with a cat head and an ankh (the Egyptian symbol of life). Although she initially began as a goddess of the sun based on her father’s powers, her appearance was predominantly feline, and it changed over time from a wild lioness to a domesticated cat. Bastet is associated with femininity and cats.