Bastet with an additional feminine suffix, as "Bastet". The name change is thought to have been added to emphasize pronunciation of the ending "t" sound, which was often left silent. Use of the new name became very familiar to Egyptologists. Cats in ancient Egypt were revered highly, partly due to their ability to combat vermin such as mice, rats (which threatened key food supplies), and snakes—especially cobras. Cats of royalty were, in some instances, known to be dressed in golden jewelry and were allowed to eat from their owners' plates. Turner and Bateson estimate that during the Twenty-second Dynasty (), Bastet
Eye of Ra take active roles in mythology, possibly because the word for "eye" in Egyptian, "jrt", resembles another word meaning "do" or "act". The presence of the feminine suffix "-t" in "jrt" may explain why these independent eyes were thought of as female. The Eye of Ra, in particular, is deeply involved in the sun god's creative actions. In Egyptian mythology, the sun's emergence from the horizon each morning is likened to Ra's birth, an event that revitalizes him and the order of the cosmos. Ra emerges from the body of a goddess who represents the sky—usually Nut. Depictions of the rising