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 Wadjet, a tutelary deity of Lower Egypt who was closely associated with royal crowns and the protection of the king. Other Eye-associated cobra goddesses include the fertility deity Renenutet, the magician goddess Weret-hekau, and Meretseger, the divine protector of the burial grounds near the city of Thebes. The deities associated with the Eye were not restricted to feline and serpent forms. Hathor's usual animal form is a cow, as is that of the closely linked Eye goddess Mehet-Weret. Nekhbet, a vulture goddess, was closely connected with Wadjet, the Eye, and the crowns of Egypt. Many Eye goddesses appear mainly in