"Bastet" by Iseult Murphy

Ah yes, the egyption goddess Bastet. MY FAVE GODDESS!! I luv her so and I luv your pics of her! Her eyes are beautifully done and she looks very realistic, you did a really great job on the coloring! And look, :: points :: you've got a background on it!! I'm jealous!! Backgrounds just don't seem to like me all that much...lol

~Megs~

Iseult Murphy replies: "  I worked really hard on this picture to try and get shadows and shading in it so I am glad you appreciate them and that you like the pic as Bastet is your fav goddess *bows in thanks* Thanks for another great comment."

Awww. Bastest is my favourite Egyptian Goddess too- did you know she can also be known as Bast? Just wondering. A lovely picture.

Iseult Murphy replies: "Oooh she is your favourite too! Kewl. No, I didn't know she was also known as Bast - thanks for telling me. Thanks for the comment."

Actually, Bastet (or Bast) was known originally as a lioness-headed goddess, and only began to switch between domestic cat and lioness after the domestication of cats some 3000 years ago. I recently did a study on Bast for a history project, so I'm pretty sure my information is accurate.

Anyway, this picture has nice shading and coloring! And I love the idea. Bast is my fave goddess, as well ^_^ My only suggestion would be to work on the proportions of the body. Her head is a little large. The background is lovely, though. Nice work ^^

Iseult Murphy replies: "Thanks Germaine for saving me having to type in that information! Yes, her head is a little too big for her body. It almost makes it look like she is wearing a mask or something. Thanks for the lovely comment."

wait... bastet I think was a little more cat like it was sekmet who is the lion. Nice pic anyways!

Iseult Murphy replies: "Yes Sekmet was also known as a lion headed goddess of destruction - and Hathor as well for a while - but see Germaine's comment below for more info on Bastet. Thanks for the comment."

Not to be picky (beacuse I really love your work) but you created "Sekmet". The Lion-Headed Goddes of Destruction, see Bast had a cat head like the cat she has her arm around.

Iseult Murphy replies: "Check Germaine's comment below (it saved me from having to type the info - thanks Germaine!) about Bastet being the lion headed goddess. Thanks for the comment."

This is soooo cool! I love her eyes and I love the giant cat in the background! And the fire in the background is so awesome! -Alecia

Iseult Murphy replies: "You like the fire! I wasn't sure if it worked too well. Glad you like it, thanks for the lovely comment."

Bastet is one of my favorite Egyptian gods (Anubis is the best I think, because he's so mysterious). Anyway, again such a wonderful color choice. How did you made it that everything seems so lively? It's fantastic. And I like it how you give your pictures this special atmosphere.

Iseult Murphy replies: "Anubis rocks too! Thank you for your lovely comment and such kind, encouraging words."

I love the idea of it all... and the colours look lovely...

Iseult Murphy replies: "Glad you like the picture Alexandra and thank you for another lovely picture"

It is one of those fascinating, to me seeming bizaarnessess, of kemit, that the goddess of domenticity should have evolved out of the goddess of warriors (who in that earlier form i'm used to reading refered to as shekmet or something like that. i'm not sure how scholarly ANY of my references are or were, but most of them did come from college and university libraries).

i'm glad you recognize that the cat was not the symbol of erroticism as so many modern admirers immagine. and i'm guessing you already know that was hathor, the cow.

but at any rate i have always loved the warmth of bast by the hearth and appreaciated the protection of shekment the warrior goddess, who, i'm told it's maybe not entirely valid to do so, but i tend to think of as her older aunt.

all cats, as far as i know are cross fertile so are only seperate species in the sense that in the abscence of cross breeding between them, their individual species, or should they be called sub-species, charicteristics, remain true.

such as the main reason the're weren't ligars befor humans introduced lions and tigers to each other is that they were in very far distant from each other places.

well i love cats in their many forms and sizes. my favorits are the semi-exotic relatively small ones like charicals and sevils and asian fissing cats and canadian lynxs and ...

i ramble but i do love this. and i suppose a warrior would have a domestic hearth in her hart and likewise even the homebody might possess the heart of a warrior.

as we all know the so called domestic cat isn't physiologicly domestic in the same sense that the domesticated wolf, i.e. dog, is, but rather dains to accompany us of its own indipendent will.

=^^=
.../\...

Iseult Murphy replies: "  Hi John. As you may have gathered from my gallery I love cats too, but the big cats like lions and jaguars are my favourites. I love their beauty and grace combined with such strength and power. I wanted to capture some of that predatory power (or menace) in this picture of Bast - that the warrior goddess of shekmet still retains her killing power even though it is no longer turned against us but now used to protect her people. Even with my own domestic cats I love the contradiction of the playful, affection kitten they are indoors and the silent deadly hunter they are outside. I'm glad you like this picture and thank you for such a lovely comment."

I don’t mean to be picky, but I study Ancient Egyptian mythology and Bastet was always a cat and never a lioness. People believe she was a lioness at one point only because she’s often confused with Sekhmet. Sorry, I’m just picky about the truth of mythology. ^-^

Iseult Murphy replies: "That’s fine, be picky as much as you like. The truth is important."