Historical Information

Bast-Mut is a syncretization of goddesses Bast and Mut, creating Bast in Her role as Queen. 

Labeled in reliefs as Mut-Bast, She was found in Luxor (Thebes/Karnak/Waset) in in the Karnak Temple, Amun Temple, Medinet Habu, and at Isheru lake, where Mut was prominent.  In those depictions, She appears both as a lioness-headed woman with the solar disk, and as a humanoid woman.  We know that this is Her based upon the hieroglyphic inscriptions included with the imagery.

It is said She also appears in Bubastis (Per-Bast/Tell-Basta/Zagazig), however, the destruction of the ancient city has left us very little historical record in which to find Her.

Bast-Mut and Mut-Bast are both the same deity, however, in the Kemetic Orthodoxy Rite of Parent Divination, the Name that comes first is the god that the one divined will best understand.  For the sake of continuity, and because She is my divined Mother, I will be calling Her as Bast-Mut throughout the page.

Syncretization?

Bast-Mut is still Bast, but She is also Mut.  As an example, let us say that Bast is the color Red and Mut is the color Blue.  Syncretized, they form the color Purple.  This creates a whole new color that you cannot separate.  In this fashion, She gets equal parts of both goddesses and forms it into one.  Spend some time researching both goddesses, and you'll get an idea of how Bast-Mut can be.

We also find Mut-Bast referred to in academic texts.  In essence, they are the same goddess, but there may be differences in how Mut-Bast acts versus Bast-Mut.  As we do not yet have any divined children of the former, I have no point of reference as to which to compare.

Bast-Mut (Mut-Bast) in the Books

Various mentions of Bast-Mut/Mut-Bast in academic publications.  Please see the bibliography section at the bottom of the page for the full texts in context.

"As on the east jamb of the doorway, one expects Mut with a syncretistic name for the lioness-headed goddess. If she is not simply labeled as Mw .t nb .t p .t, she could be Mut-Bastet (as on the east jamb) or Mut-Sekhmet; there is not enough space for Mut-Weret-Hekau. One notes that in the dedicatory text on the east wall in the bark shrine of Mut in the triple shrine of the Ramesside Court, Ramesses II refers to having made the monument for his mother Mut-Bastet (KRI 2, 615/16-616-1). The prominence accorded to Mut as Bastet on the east wall of the triple shrine mirrors the importance of the lioness-headed goddess in the first register scenes on the east and west jambs of the north portal of the Colonnade Hall."  - Oriental Institute Publications (OIP) Vol 116

"In the first register scenes on the east and west jambs of the doorway, the king is shown in a variant of the hn-gesture, which he performs in the presence of Mut in a feline form, called Mut-Bastet on the east jamb and perhaps called Sekhmet on the west.  The gesture is particularly appropriate for the wandering goddess returning to Egypt for the hieros gamos.  .... A good deal of paint survives to show the coloration of the figure of the lioness goddess.  The goddess has yellow skin, but her lioness face is blue.  This bichromatic treatment is paralleled in other scenes and is also textually attested."   - Oriental Institute Publications (OIP) Vol 116

"The text between the thrones of the divine couple may also support an original p position at the north wall.  Traces of the central text panel (pl. 216G, n. b) indicate that Mut is referred to on the statue as either "[Sekhm]et" or "[Bast]et," corresponding to an epithet of Mut on the north wall, east side, first register, that associate her with Sekhmet.  Doorjamb reliefs on the north exterior facade, east side, depict Mut as the feline-headed "Mut, lady of heaven, Bastet who resides in Isheru" (pl. 144, I. 7).  In the corresponding scene on the west side a similar feline-headed goddess, whose name is now lost, is probably to be identified either as Mut-Bastet or Mut-Sekhmet (pl. 149, n. c). Feline goddesses proliferate in this area, perhaps a reference to their role as protector of the king when he entered the temple complex.  In addition, the texts of the back pillar of the large dyad consist of speeches of Amun and Mut, both of which are to be read from right to left, that is, west to east, favoriting a placement for this statue on the east side of the Colonade Hall."   - Oriental Institute Publications (OIP) Vol 116

"Words spoken by Mut, lady of heaven, Bastet who resides in Asheru: "O my beloved son, lord of the two lands, Djeserkheperure-Setepenre, I am your mother.  I am giving you your suck, that you may suck from my milk, may it enter into you in life and dominion..joy...I have given to you millions of jubilee like Re."" - Oriental Institute Publications (OIP) Vol 116

"Mut the Great, Lady of Isheru, Bast, Mistress of Karnak, possessor of graciousness, sweet of love: I have given you the throne of Geb and the lifespan of Re in heaven." - Oriental Institute Publications (OIP) Vol 107

"Mut, lady of heaven, Bastet residing in Karnak, as she gives all life: I have given to you all life and dominion, all health and all joy like Re." - Oriental Institute Publications (OIP) Vol 1 Part 3

"...he has made as his monument for his mother Mut-Bastet, Lady of Heaven, Mistress of the gods, [the making for her of a] great and noble [place] in the temple ('palace") of Southern Opet, of fine, hard, white stone, the [handiwork?...];[....] of granite, its doors of real cedar of the terraces (i,e., of Lebanon), bonded with Asiatic copper. [He has made] for her upon an everlasting precinct, an adobe for eternity; (and) a great shrine for the Ruler of Thebes, a sanctuary for his Ennead--a place of supplication [..for hearing petitions of gods and men? Rest lost]. ...

This set of texts is of interest for its reference to the compound Mut-Bastet, to the claim of Ramesses II that, even as a prince, he was interested in making new images for Mut, and for its mentions of the shrines of Mut, Amun, and the Ennead." - The Dedicatory and Building Texts of Ramesses II in Luxor Temple: II: Interpretation

"As the consort of Amun-Re-Shu, the lioness goddess of Thebes, Mut as Bastet and Sekhmet, is the solar eye as Tefnut, the moist, tear-filled eye of the sun, herself a representation of the good new year." - Darnell, John Coleman. “The Apotropaic Goddess in the Eye.”

"The lion is also a manifestation chosen by Mut, also the feline of which there is association with Mut and Bastet." - Hart, George. "The Routledge Dictionary of Egyptian Gods and Goddesses."

"I renewed the bark of Khons-the-Child (and) the bark of Bastet residing-in-Thebes, So as to satisfy her majesty with what she wishes." -  Abdel-Raziq, Abdalla. “Sacred Bark of Bastet.”

"I fashioned a portable bark of Bastet residing in Thebes, with carrying staves of electrum and every genuine costly stone." - Abdel-Raziq, Abdalla. “Sacred Bark of Bastet.”

“Mut-Bastet, mistress of the Two Lands, Ruler of the banks, great of might in the bark of Re” -Stewart, H. M. “A Crossword Hymn to Mut.”

Disclaimer: Much of the information listed below falls under personal experience with no verified basis in historical texts.  These are offerings I feel She likes, songs I associate with Her, and other tidbits I find important towards understanding Bast-Mut.  

Family

• Wife of Amun-Ra
• Mother of Khonsu
• Mother of Heru (as Aset)
• Mother of Djehuty (as Raet)
• Mother of Mafdet (as Bast)
• Mother of Maahes (Regional)
• Mother of Nefertem (Regional)