footnotes

1. Raymond Faulkner, Concise Dictionary of Middle Egyptian, David Brown Book Co.

2. ibid.

3. This pronunciation is courtesy of Geoff Graham, M.A., and Ph.D. candidate of Yale University.

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4. Edouard Naville, Bubastis: 1887-1889

5. Jaromir Malek, The Cat in Ancient Egypt, University of Pennsylvania Press

6. Stephen Quirke, Ancient Egyptian Religion, Dover Pubns

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7. H.H. Tamara Siuda, M.A., Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago.

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8. In some versions of the bible Bubastis is referred to as "Pi Beseth", "Pi-Beseth" or "Pibeseth". Ezekiel 30:17 (KJV) states, "The young men of Aven [On] and of Pibeseth [Bubastis] shall fall by the sword: and these cities shall go into captivity."

9. All the above are from the Lexicon der Aegyptologie's article on Bast by Eberhard Otto, graciously translated from the German by Hmt. Rev. Tamara Siuda (AUS).

10. ibid.

11. Please note that the cat-headed woman behind the glass at the Field Museum is not Sekhmet. An impressive granite statue of Sekhmet does lie directly in front of the entrance to the shrine, but to my knowledge Sekhmet has never been depicted as anything but a lion. I make this point simply because while sitting in the shrine on July 31, 1998, a passing tour guide explaining the exhibit to some museum-goers in her group not only misidentified the cat-headed statue as Sekhmet, but went on to refer to it as being a male god, not a female one. The error here is two fold, as Sekhmet is always female and always a lioness.

Additionally, a modern-day shrine to Bast exists in the Kemetic Orthodox faith at Tawyhouse.

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12. Jaromir Malek, The Cat in Ancient Egypt, University of Pennsylvania Press

13. ibid.

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14. Herodotus, Histories

15. ibid.

16. Gay Robins, Women in Ancient Egypt, Harvard University Press

17. Miriam Lichtheim, translator, Ancient Egyptian Literature Vol. II, University of California Press

18. Jaromir Malek, The Cat in Ancient Egypt, University of Pennsylvania Press

19. ibid.

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20. From the Lexicon der Aegyptologie's article on Bast by Eberhard Otto, translated from the German by H.H. Tamara Siuda.

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21. Dieter Arnold (Editor), Lanny Bell, Ragnhild Bjerre Finnestad (Editor), Byron E. Shafer, Temples of Ancient Egypt, Cornell University Press

22. ibid.

23. Lise Manniche, An Ancient Egyptian Herbal, University of Texas Press

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24. Jaromir Malek and John Baines, Atlas of Ancient Egypt, Facts on File

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