Meet our Mascots

This is Daphne. She was named after a Greek goddess. Daphne (mythology), in Greek mythology, nymph, daughter of the river god Peneus. She was a hunter who dedicated herself to Artemis, goddess of the hunt, and, like the goddess, refused to marry. The god Apollo fell in love with Daphne, and when she refused his advances, he pursued her through the woods. She prayed to her father for help, and as Apollo advanced upon her, she was changed into a laurel tree (Greek daphne). Grief-stricken at her transformation, Apollo made the laurel his sacred tree.



This is Bast. She was named after an Egyptian goddess.



In ancient Egypt the cat was worshipped as a sacred animal - the mother or creator.

Bast is the Egyptian Goddess and protector of cats, women and children. She is Goddess of sunrise. Her goddess duty changed over the years, but, she is also known as a goddess of love, fertility, birth, music and dance.

She has been dated to at least the Second Dynasty (c. 2890-2686 Before Common Era [B.C.E.]).

Bast is depicted in art in many different ways. The most common is the body of young woman with the head of a domestic cat sometimes holding a sistrum. Her 'sister' Sekhmet, is shown with the head of a lioness.

In early times Bast (written as 'Bastet' by scribes in later times to emphasize that the 't' was to be pronounced) was a goddess with the head of a lion or a desert sand-cat and was regarded as mother of Mahes, a lion-headed god. She was usually depicted as a cat, or as a woman with the head of a cat or lion. She was also connected to Hathor, Sekhmet, Tefnut, Atum (her father) and Mut. It was only in the New Kingdom that she gained the head of a house cat and became a much more 'friendly' goddess, though she was still depicted as a lion-headed woman to show her war-like side. As with Hathor, Bast is often seen carrying a sistrum.

Her name has the hieroglyph of a 'bas'-jar with the feminine ending of 't'. These jars were heavy perfume jars, often filled with expensive perfumes - they were very valuable in Egypt, considering the Egyptian need (with the hot weather) of makeup, bathing, hygiene and (of course) perfume. Bast, by her name, seems to be related to perfumes in some way. Her son Nefertem, a solar god, was a god of perfumes and alchemy, which supports the theory. She was the mother of Mahes a Lion-headed God of healing. His main temple was at Leontopolis, although he did have a shrine at Bubastis. Bastet has another son in the form of the lion-headed god Mihos.

There is some confusion over Bast and Sekhmet. She was also considered to be the mother of Nefertem, as were a few other goddesses! Sekhmet was given the title the 'Eye of Ra' when she was in her protector form... but Bast and Sekhmet are not the same goddess (unlike Hathor who becomes Sekhmet as the 'Eye of Ra'). This all gives rise to a lot of confusion about these goddesses. Bast and Sekhmet were another example of Egyptian duality - Sekhmet was a goddess of Upper Egypt, Bast of Lower Egypt (just like the pharaoh was of Upper and/or Lower Egypt!)... and they were linked together by geography, not by myth or legend. These two feline goddesses were not related by family, they were both very distinct goddesses in their own rights.