Bubastis

Bubastis was the cult centre of Bastet, the cat goddess, and Herodotus described its annual festival as the largest and most riotous in Egypt, with hundreds of thousands travelling by river, singing and drinking as they came. The temple he described is now a low field of broken red granite blocks and column drums scattered across the mound, with palm trees growing among them. What draws most attention is the burial ground: extensive cat cemeteries where mummified cats were interred in large numbers, alongside bronze votive figures of Bastet found here in quantity. The site also holds a Middle Kingdom palace, Old Kingdom tomb chapels and a well-preserved cellar system, and excavation continues on the edges of the mound where Zagazig presses against it.

History

The Egyptian name Per-Bast means "House of Bast", after the cat goddess Bastet, and Bubastis was the capital of the 18th nome of Lower Egypt, on the Pelusiac branch of the Nile near the entrance to the Wadi Tumilat, a hub for trade and expeditions to Sinai and the Levant. Settlement began at the end of the 4th millennium BC, and the cult of Bastet is known from the reign of Hotepsekhemwy in the 2nd Dynasty. A governor's palace stood here in the 4th Dynasty, temples for the royal ka of Teti and Pepi I in the 6th, and in the 12th Dynasty a palace of 16,000 square metres for the governors, thought perhaps to have been a residence of Amenemhat III. Middle Kingdom kings renovated the sanctuary of Bastet, and Ramesses II greatly enlarged the temple, much of whose red granite bears his name, and set up colossal statues including one of his daughter-wife Meritamun (Wikipedia, Bubastis).

What you'll find

• The ruined temple of Bastet - granite blocks and column drums in a palm grove.
• Cat cemeteries - the burial ground of the goddess's sacred animals.
• Old Kingdom tomb chapels - earlier burials on the same mound.
• A Middle Kingdom palace - foundations at the edge of the site.

When to go

October to April. Two hours. It is an easy add-on to a Delta day and reachable by train to Zagazig plus a short taxi. Mornings are quieter and cooler.

Before you go

Very little stands and the temple is essentially rubble, so the famous festival has to be imagined entirely. The town has grown right up to the fence and rubbish blows onto the site. Signage is poor. The cat mummies themselves are in museums, not here.

Nearby

Tanis is north-east across the Delta; Cairo is about ninety minutes south-west.

Key facts