希罗多德、布巴斯提斯和埃及的“猫女神节”

Herodotus,Bubastis,and Festival of Bastet in Ancient Egypt

希腊史家希罗多德曾远足埃及尼罗河三角洲地区,寻访历史名胜,采集民俗风物,留下生动有趣的“埃及故事”,其中对布巴斯提斯城及其猫女神崇拜的记载是古代遗留的最为生动翔实的书面文献,其史料价值一直是古典学和埃及学领域探究的热点问题。本文首先对希罗多德的记载展开文本分析,继而追溯布巴斯提斯城的考古史,在此基础上对史家记载的布巴斯提斯城、猫女神芭斯泰特的圣所及其节日进行分析梳理,探究其信息的可靠性和史料价值。本文认为,尽管希罗多德的“埃及故事”有很多人云亦云、荒诞不实的内容,但他对布巴斯提斯及其猫女神崇拜的记载却有重要的史料价值,是史家身临其境采集的第一手资料,或是从可靠渠道获得的真实历史信息,其可靠性得到考古和科学考察的证实,也得到埃及古文献和图像的佐证。

Greek historian Herodotus once traveled to the Nile Delta in Egypt for historical remains and folk customs.Among his"Egyptian Stories",the accounts dealing with the city of Bubastis and the cult of the cat goddess Bastet have attracted serious academic attention concerning their reliability.This article first conducts a textual analysis of Herodotus'accounts,and then traces the archaeological finds in Bubastis.On this basis,the article analyzes the reliability of Herodotus’accounts as well as their historical value.By conclusion,the article points out that although Herodotus's"Egyptian Stories"contain many absurd and incredible contents,his accounts about Bubastis and the cult of the Bastet were mainly based upon eye-witness information or other types of reliable sources.The reliability of those texts has been confirmed by archaeological and scientific investigations and supported by ancient Egyptian texts and iconography.