Bastet Figure. - very fine - Ancient Egypt, Late Period, 664 – 332 B.C. Bronze. 6,1 cm height and 9,5 cm with the stand. Condition: Good condition, intact. Provenance: Private collection, France. Acquired before the 1970's. Description: Bastet is a goddess from Egyptian mythology who is identified with the figure of cats. She is often represented with the body of a woman and the head of a cat, or simply as a very stylized full-body cat. The mission of this goddess is vague, some think that she symbolized home, joy, harmony and happiness. Others speculate that she was a deity in charge of symbolizing sexual desire, the moon, fertility, motherhood or feminine virtues in general. The goddess had as a sister the extremely dangerous goddess Sejmet, the one who was also represented by another feline, the enraged lioness. A goddess who represented the malefic qualities of the sun. Even though Bastet was a seemingly peaceful goddess, if she got angry she could be much more angry than her sister, so it was better to keep her pleased. Its representation as a cat is not accidental, and it is that the nature of the cat, or rather of the cats, is that of an animal of great fertility, and a protective mother with all her puppies, in addition to being nocturnal animals who are comfortable with the dark to hunt. In the cult of the goddess, the priests chose a cat, which was worshiped and revered treating it as the very incarnation of the goddess. Every year, when spring approached, her followers celebrated the Feast of Drunkenness. In this festival, processions with images of the goddess took place, which were transported in a large boat across the Nile. When the procession arrived at Bubastis (a city consecrated to the goddess), an authentic party full of drink began in which everyone ended up harmed by alcohol and dances. The only thing that was intended was to worship the goddess so that Bastet would calm down and not pull out the sharp nails from her. Her worship was so important that cats, the representation and incarnation of the goddess, were raised in her temples, and when they died, they were carefully mummified by burying them in specific tombs. Necropolises of this type have been found in Bubastis, Saqqara, Tanis, Beni Hassan and Thebes. Notes: - The piece includes authenticity certificate. - The piece includes Spanish Export License (Passport for European Union) - If the piece is destined outside the European Union a substitution of the export permit should be requested, can take between 1-2 weeks maximum. - The seller guarantees that he acquired this piece according to all national and international laws related to the ownership of cultural property. Provenance statement seen by Catawiki.