Bubastis

Bubastis (the Pi-beseth of Ezek. xxx. 17; now Tel Bast), a ruined city of Lower Egypt, on the eastern main-arm of the Nile, near Zagazig, named from the lion-headed and cat-headed goddess Bast, who was worshipped here with peculiar reverence. She was daughter of Ra, and bride of Ptah, and symbolised sexual passion. Her festival took place on the 16th of Khoiak (about Christmas). Bast (also called Menk) and Sekhet were regarded as sisters. Under the 25th dynasty (725–686 B.C.) the city was a royal residence, but after the Persian conquest (352 B.C.) it gradually lost its importance. The ruins of its great temple were discovered by M. Naville in 1887, and extensive excavations next year revealed that Bubastis was once the seat of a great Hyksos settlement.