Ancient site · Sharqia
Bubastis
Ruins of an ancient Delta city on the edge of Zagazig, once the cult centre of the cat goddess Bastet.
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The story
Bubastis, known in Arabic as Tell Basta and in ancient Egyptian as Per-Bast, was an ancient Egyptian city in the Nile Delta of Lower Egypt. It was the capital of its own province, stood along the Nile, and was famed as the centre of worship of the feline goddess Bastet, which made it Egypt's main depository of cat mummies. It is often identified with the biblical Pi-Beseth. Its ruins lie today in the suburbs of the modern city of Zagazig.
Good to know
- It was Egypt's principal depository of cat mummies.
- Its ruins lie in the suburbs of modern Zagazig.