CAIRO – Archaeologists have unearthed a 2,000-year-old temple that may have been dedicated to the ancient Egyptian cat goddess, Bastet, the Supreme Council of Antiquities said Tuesday. The ruins of the Ptolemaic-era temple were discovered by Egyptian archaeologists in the heart of the Mediterranean port city of Alexandria, founded by Alexander the Great in the 4th century B.C.
The city was the seat of the Greek-speaking Ptolemaic Dynasty, which ruled over Egypt for 300 years until the suicide of Queen Cleopatra.
The statement said the temple was thought to belong to Queen Berenice, wife of King Ptolemy III who ruled Egypt in the 3rd century B.C.
Mohammed Abdel-Maqsood, the Egyptian archaeologist who led the excavation team, said the discovery may be the first trace of the long-sought location of Alexandria’s royal quarter.
The large number of statues depicting Bastet found in the ruins, he said, suggested that this may be the first Ptolemaic-era temple dedicated to the cat goddess to be discovered in Alexandria.
This would indicate that the worship of the ancient Egyptian cat-goddess continued during the later, Greek-influenced, Ptolemaic period, he said.
Statues of other ancient Egyptian deities were also found in the ruins, he added.
Zahi Hawass, Egypt’s chief archaeologist, said the temple may have been used in later times as a quarry as evidenced by the large number of missing stone blocks.
Modern Alexandria was built squarely on top of the ruins of the classical-era city and many of its great temples, palaces and libraries remain undiscovered.
The temple was found in the Kom el-Dekkah neighborhood near the city’s main train station and home to a Roman-era amphitheater and well preserved mosaics.
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posted January 19, 2010 at 7:37 pm
Very COOL! Egypt never ceases to amaze!
posted January 19, 2010 at 8:41 pm
Interesting. They are always finding new things in Egypt. One would think that there is nothing left to find on this earth.
posted January 19, 2010 at 9:41 pm
Here’s the pertinent Wikipedia article. Bastet was also called Bast and was a more domestic goddess than the earlier lion goddess, Maftet.
posted January 20, 2010 at 11:27 am
O great – the very definition of an indifferent deity. As if cats care if people worship them – they simply assume people do. I envision a Dominant/submissive hieroglyphic scenario with cats holding whips while bound dogs carry them around and fluff their pillows.
Now where is the Divine Temple of the Holy Platypus? THAT is a place worth visiting! You can’t see them, but you know they are there. This would even beat Athen’s Temple to the Unseen God.
posted January 20, 2010 at 12:10 pm
J I love it!
posted January 20, 2010 at 2:51 pm
Me, too J. I bought a little statue of Bastet at the Egyptian Museum in Chicago some yrs. ago. Love cats! Love dogs!