The Month of Cats and Snakes (The Religious Year 5/12).

The fifth month, Ta-Abet (“the banquet offering”) was a month for worshiping snakes and cats above all. In particular, the Egyptians celebrated the gods Nehebkau, Bastet, Mut and Wadjet. We meet three of these strange deities, and see why, for the Egyptians, cats and snakes went hand-in-hand (tail-in-paw?)…

Bibliography

  • Richard H. Wilkinson, The Complete Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt, 2003.
  • Anthony Spalinger, “Ancient Egyptian Calendars,” in C.L.N. Ruggles (ed.),  Handbook of Archaeoastronomy and Ethnoastronomy, 2015.
  • Alan W. Shorter, “The God Nehebkau,” The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology (1935).