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Statue of cat goddess Bastet, photographed by Gryffindor in 2008 at the Istanbul Museum. Permission to use image granted through GNU Free Documentation License, Creative Commons.

Egypt says temple dedicated to cat goddess found

Catherine Saunders-Watson
Catherine Saunders-Watson

Statue of cat goddess Bastet, photographed by Gryffindor in 2008 at the Istanbul Museum. Permission to use image granted through GNU Free Documentation License, Creative Commons.
Statue of cat goddess Bastet, photographed by Gryffindor in 2008 at the Istanbul Museum. Permission to use image granted through GNU Free Documentation License, Creative Commons.

CAIRO (AP) – Egypt says its archaeologists have unearthed a Ptolemaic temple dating back more than 2,000 years, that may have been dedicated to the ancient cat-goddess Bastet.

The Supreme Council of Antiquities said the temple’s ruins were discovered in the heart of the Mediterranean port city of Alexandria, the seat of the dynasty founded by Alexander the Great in the 4th century B.C., that ended with the suicide of Cleopatra 300 years later.

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, indicated that this may be the first Ptolemaic temple discovered in Alexandria to be dedicated to the cat goddess.

That also suggests that the worship of the cat-goddess continued in Egypt during the later, more Greek-influenced, Ptolemaic period, he said. Statues of other ancient Egyptian deities also present, he added.

Zahi Hawas, Egypt’s chief archaeologist, said the temple may have been used in later times as a quarry and that this was 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 the great temples, palaces and libraries of that time remain undiscovered.

The temple was found in the Kom el-Dekkah neighborhood near the city’s main train station and is also the site of a Roman-era amphitheater and well preserved mosaics.

It said the temple was thought to belong to Queen Berenice, wife of King Ptolemy III who ruled Egypt in the 3rd century B.C.

The archaeologist who led the excavation team, Mohammed Abdel-Maqsood, said the ruins indicate this may be the first Ptolemaic temple discovered in Alexandria to be dedicated to Bastet and indicates that the worship of the cat-goddess continued in Egypt after the end of the ancient Egyptian era.

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AP-CS-01-19-10 0820EST