Bastet and those who could would have them embalmed or buried in cat cemeteries—pointing to the great prevalence of the cult of Bastet. Extensive burials of cat remains were found not only at Bubastis, but also at Beni Hasan and Saqqara. In 1888, a farmer uncovered a plot of many hundreds of thousands of cats in Beni Hasan. Herodotus also relates that of the many solemn festivals held in Egypt, the most important and most popular one was that celebrated in Bubastis in honor of the goddess. Each year on the day of her festival, the town was said to have
Eye of Ra BC), such as the God's Wife of Amun, had a similar relationship with the gods they served. Amenhotep III even dedicated a temple at Sedeinga in Nubia to his wife, Tiye, as a manifestation of the Eye of Ra, paralleling the temple to Amenhotep himself at nearby Soleb. The violent form of the Eye was also invoked in religious ritual and symbolism as an agent of protection. The uraeus on royal and divine headdresses alludes to the role of the Eye goddesses as protectors of gods and kings. For similar reasons, uraei appear in rows atop shrines and other structures,