Bastet

Bastet took feline form and attacked Apophis as he assaulted Ra’s solar boat during its nightly passage through the underworld. Apophis was the Great Rebel, a force of chaos that threatened the divine order. He attacked in the seventh and twelfth hours of the night, when powerful deities guarded the sun god in the boat’s prow. Bastet fought as the Eye of Ra and defended her father, Ra.

Bastet had both a nurturing maternal aspect and a terrifying avenging aspect. In her cat form, she was a fierce fighter and a force for good. In her lion form, she became dangerous even to other deities. Those she devoured were annihilated forever, with no hope of rebirth. Against Apophis, Bastet acted as a guardian rather than as a destroyer.

Apophis usually appeared as a giant snake, although he was sometimes described as a huge crocodile. He was the destructive counterpart of the protective snake forms of the creator. The gods beat him back and slaughtered him, but he returned to life and attacked again on later nights. Bastet’s assault formed part of this repeated struggle while Ra continued through the underworld.

In one telling, Seth, the strongest of the gods, clubbed or speared Apophis from the prow of the solar boat. In another, the Great Tom Cat, a form of Ra, cut off Apophis’s head beneath the sacred ished tree at Heliopolis, on the night of making war and driving off the rebels. The spirits of the dead were expected to join the struggle against Apophis.