Near Eastern Institute

Buto

Ages ago, a city by the name of Buto could be found about 94 kilometers to the east of Alexandria, in Egypt’s Nile delta. This ancient settlement is thought to be the Kem Kasir from more modern times. It thrived happily near the southern shore of lake Butic , very close to the mouth of the nile river.

Ancient beliefs
Life as a true city began for Buto by the act  of  2 huge separate towns merging into one. These towns, named Pe and Dep, became a single city which was known to the Egyptians as Per-Wadjet. Out of this merging culture grew some religious beliefs that we, with our modern views, may view as rather strange. However, to the people of the time, their beliefs must have been just as strong to them as ours are to us.

We have to understand their beliefs in context of the time and place that they lived. One of their local deities was a goddess they called Wadjet, which they usually depicted in cobra form. Wadjet was also worshiped by the citizens of Lower Egypt. Wadjet was so important to the people of Buto that they even had a temple, complete with an oracle, dedicated to her.
Festivals to honor Wadjet were held every year and her image, as a cobra, formed a part of the royal crown worn by Lower Egyptian Pharaohs. Included in the ancient beliefs of Buto was the Goddess they named Bast, who they believed was a protective warrior goddess. The temples at Buto eventually included one devoted to the god Horus as well and it had a beautiful sanctuary attached.

Archeologists have learned that the cultural norms practiced in Upper Egypt superseded Buto culture when Upper and Lower Egypt melded. Ancient Buto is of great archeological importance, as it reveals more about the cultural development over ten thousand years from the Paleolithic to around 3000 B.C.As Upper Egypt merged with Lower Egypt, we see a change in their religious systems.

Now Wadjet suddenly had a companion goddess named Nekhbet , who was often depicted in the form of a white vulture.These goddesses  were referred to as the ‘two ladies ‘ and were important patron goddesses of Egypt..
Even the royal crown was modified to make place for Nekhbet, who joined Wadjet in a place of honor on the Pharaohs crown .

It was documented by the Greeks of the Ptolemaic dynasty (305 B.C. to 30 B.C) that Buto was a capital city based in the Nile Delta. Further records make mention of the well-known temple and oracle to Wadjet, as well as the yearly feasting that honored this goddess.The documents also talk of the existence of sanctuaries in Buto devoted to Horus and Bast, among others.

The deification of Bast can be seen to date back to the second dynasty of Egypt, if not later. In Lower Egypt, she was honored as a protector and there are depictions of her in her form as a lioness.Her name can be translated as ‘the one who devours’. Her cult could be located in Per Bast, which the Greeks knew as Bubastis.This Bast was believed to be the true defender of the Pharaoh.Later on, her association with the sun god Ra caused the people to grant her a new title. She became known as the ‘Lady of Flame’ as well as ‘The Eyes of Ra’.

When the cult of Bast first began, she was referred to as a sun goddess.However, with the passage of time,the Greeks came to see her as a moon deity, and in their myths, she appears as Aelurus.The meaning of the name Buto, in ancient Greek, is thought to be closely linked to that of Maut (Isis), who was believed by them to have been the Mother of all creation.