The Truth About The Large Festival Held In Bastet's Honor

Publish date: 2024-04-12

Ancient Greek historian Herodotus traveled to Egypt and recorded his observations as he made his way throughout the land. As reported by The Historian's Hut, Herodotus witnessed a Bastet festival. His description of the revelry surrounding the festival reads as similar to that of a modern Mardi Gras or Carnival celebration. He wrote of people sailing into Bubastis on barges and boats, singing, playing music, making noise with rattles and castanets, and shouting back and forth with people on the shore. Women in particular were observed shouting at each other and exchanging what is usually translated as "abuse," and some women lifted their skirts, revealing they were naked under them.

According to the World History Encyclopedia, the women's nudity represented both fertility as well as freedom from societal rules, inhibitions, and expectations during the festival, while the "abuse" was intended to encourage women to take a break from their daily tasks and routines and join the party. Hundreds of thousands of people arrived at Bubastis to drink copious amounts of wine, dance, and celebrate. Herodotus described the festival of Bastet as the most elaborate of all the Egyptian festivals. According to the American Research Center in Egypt, the hedonism displayed at the Bastet festival served a purpose other than just ignoring usual expectations and having fun. Egyptians believed that dropping social norms and engaging in such behavior during festivals pleased their female goddesses, including Sekhmet, Mut, and Hathor, as well as Bastet.

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