Francis Llewellyn Griffith

“ BUBASTIS, the Graecized name of the Egyptian goddess Ubasti, meaning “she of [the city] Bast” (B;s-t) , a city better known by its later name, P-ubasti, “place of Ubasti”; thus the goddess derived her name Ubasti from her city (Bast) , and in turn the city derived its name P-ubasti from that of the goddess; the Greeks, confusing the name of the city with that of the goddess, called the latter Bubastis, and the former also Bubastis (later Bubastos) . ”

“ The cat cemetery on the west side of the town consisted of numbers of large brick chambers, crammed with burnt and decayed mummies, many of which had been enclosed in cat-shaped cases of wood and bronze. ”

“ The Greeks equated Ubasti with their Artemis, confusing her with the leonine Tafne, sister of Shöou (Apollo) . The Egyptians themselves delighted in identifying together goddesses of the most diverse forms and attributes; but Ubasti was almost indistinguishable in form from Tafne. ”