See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.

net/publication/261357452

The great temple of Bastet at Bubastis

Article · April 2008

CITATIONS READS

2 1,452

1 author:

Daniela Rosenow
British Museum
10 PUBLICATIONS   63 CITATIONS   

SEE PROFILE

All content following this page was uploaded by Daniela Rosenow on 04 April 2014.

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

 EGYPTIAN %filW ARCHAEOLOGY

The great temple of Bastet

(

at Bubastis
First excavated by Edouard Naville for the Egypt Exploration Fund in the late nineteenth century the
great temple ofBastet at the ancient ciry ofBubastis is now being studied by a joint German/Egyptian
mlsslorl, as Daniela Rosenow describes.

The remains of the ancient Egyptian city ofBubastis (Tell

Basta) are situated in the south-east Nile Deita, on the
south-eastern edge of the modern ciry of Zagaztg and
since 1991 archaeological and epigraphic freldwork has
been undertaken at the site by theTell Basta Project, which
isa joint mission of the lJniversiry of Potsdam, Germany

and the Egyptian Supreme Council fbrAntiquities.

The visitor to the temple today sees a large area ofblocks
and broken monuments, as it was destroyed during an
earthquake probably 2,000 years ago, but many of these
blocks have datable inscriptions which help us to trace
the temple's history.
Although monuments from every period of Egyptian
history have been found there, Bubastis attained its greatest
importance when it was the residence of the Libyan kings 3D docmentation and rtconstruction of'the monumentdl statue o;f a

Ramesside queen, by Object Sun GmbH Potsdam

of the Twenty-Second Dynasty. During this period the
great temple of Bastet was extensively extended, with its eastern, southern and northern sides. In the court a
further major work being undertaken by the last native monlrmental pink granite statue of a Ramesside queen
Egyptian king, Nectanebo II, who probably renewed the was found and uncovered betrveen 2001 and 2003 (see
sanctuary itself of the temple. also the cover photograph of EA 21 and EA 28, p.11).
The main entrance to the temple in the east is dominated The reconstructed statue is more than 9m high, which
by blocks naming Osorkon I and showing the king makes it the tallest statue so far discovered in the Nile
making offerings to a variety of gods. The distribution Delta. It dates to the reign of Ramesses II and probably
of these scattered blocks and of columns with palm-leaf represents his wife Queen Nefertari, though it was later
capitals allows us to reconstruct the templet perisryle usurped by Osorkon II, who modified the inscription
court which measured 30m x 50m, with columns on on the dorsal pillar to give his own name and that of his
:.... :,..-.,,. wife Karomama.

,,,t,.ltri,,::-t The area west of the peristyle

r-""-J-- is
-'
itf;$,* do nrinate d by archit ec tural fra gm e nts
with the name of Osorkon II and
reiiefs showing different episodes
of the king's sed festival, which are
outstanding in both quality and
content, as the1. show the most
extensive series of this royal ritual.
To the west of this festival gate
the foundation ofa long colonnade,
almost 30m long and with papyrus
bundle columns, leads to the next
structure, a five-aisled hypostyle hall,
with papyrus bundle columns with
Hathor capitals. Further to the west
there is a small pillared court where
The queen's statue during its restoration. Photograph: Daniela Rosenout
 EGYPTTAN %%ilw ARCHAEOLoGY

eight shrines,
belongingtofour
different types
which can be
distinguished by
their architecture,
decoration or
function. The
first type is
exemplified by
the naos for
'Bastet, lady
of the shrine'.
A Hathor capital in the central court. Photogrdph: Hans-Dieter Beyer
This was once A uith the name of
cryptographical cartouche
the columns also have Hathor capitals. The colonnade, c.1 .80m wide and Nectanebo II. Drawing by Daniela Rosenow
the hyposryle hall and the pillared hall are the core of the 3m high and showed an unusual architectural feature:
Osorkon II temple. it
had an additional inner niche within the actual naos
Many statues were placed in the central court and structure, which was invisible from the outside. Its outer
they can almost all be attributed to Ramesses II while walls were decorated with depictions showing the king
some stylistically seem to date back to the early Middle worshipping Bastet and upholding the heaven. The
Kingdom.They probably once lined the inner side of the pedestal supporting the inner niche was decorated with
rvalls that enclosed the central court. a sm't3wy-scene undertaken by two Nile gods.
In the westernmost area Nectanebo II constructed a Another shrine (typ. 2) was originally c.3.50m high
separate hall where a number of shrines were situated. and 1.50m wide and had similar architectural elements
The fagade of the hall was once adorned by a large- to the first one. Its decoration shows long rows of gods
scale frieze of uraei, below which was a horizontal torus
moulding and a cornice, with the kingt cartouches. A
band of text ran around the whole building and named
the goddess Bastet, other gods and the king himself. Large
scale scenes showing the king in front ofBastet and other
gods worshipped at Bubastis as minor deities, covered the
outer walls.The ceiling was decorated with stars, and some
blocks additionally have a column of inscription naming
Nectanebo II, the city Bubastis and the godess Bastet.
In the westernmost area around 20 blocks were
discovered that clearly represent the remains of shrines.
These ftagments can be reconstructed to form at least

{*F
N
r!" "g_y
lj

;. ;-; "=:'
i l1!
-*

,: : .,r ::rt | 1 : r .tio m rI t e Tl r i rti eth Dy 1 1,15 1

1, sd n ct u ary. Relielt'rom the sed-feniual hall o-f Osorkon II.
C.'r'. l,t D,rricl,1 Ro-icrrorl Phot ograph : H ans -Dieter Beyer

I2
 EGYPTIAN %{ilW ARCFL{EOLOG\

Shrine (type l)Jrom theThirtieth Dynasty sdnctudry. 3D documentation

and retonstruction by Object Scan CmbH Potsdant i

and, most interestingly, Osiris and other creator gods play Shrine (type 2)from theThirtieth Dynastl sanctudry. Reconstruction by
Neal Spencer, British Museum
a prominent role on this shrine and the cycle of creation
is obviously a main focus of the decoration. This shrine made of gold. There are also several blocks which once
was erected in the centre of the sanctuary and thus was belonged to the walls ofthe sanctuary and were decorated
the main naos. with a kind of topographical cult list. These fragments
A further shrine fragment (of type 3) is inscribed show long rows of gods, holy animals, plants or emblems
with a mythological text, which allows us to assign this and the accompanying inscriptions always name a specific
inscription to a special genre, the so called'monographies' deity and his/her place of worship.A concentration on a
(inventory lists designed to preserve the traditional, special region or a certain order is not discernible. Perhaps
religious knowledge about a ciry temple or nome). Here, this list of gods and temples on the sanctuary walls was
the protective troops of the'Seven arrows of Bastet'are supposed to represent their actual cultic settings, which
mentiorred. It may be possible to reconstruct four of this were necessary for the performance ofall rites during the
type ofshrine, originally erected in the four corners of the festival for Bastet and the daily ritual.
main sanctuary to provide a special magical protection. A last group of blocks shows huge cartouches with
A fourth rype of shrine is that of the naoi dedicated six gods arranged in three pairs and facing each other.
to the minor dieties of Bubastis. Discovered fragments The depictions suggest that here the king's name
represent parts of at least six different shrines that were was cryptographically presented. The king has a very
architecturally quite similar to the first two naoi described prominent position in this iconography, as he offers to
above. The inscriptions allow us to assign these shrines and worships the cartouches. So he not only acts as a
to Monthu, Horhekenu, Harsaphis, Sekhmet,'Wadjet, and terrestrial ruler, but is depicted here in his cultic roie as
Shesemtet. the'lord of rituals'.
Apart from the shrine fragments many other blocks A recent discovery demonstrates the importance of
were discovered that provide important hints about the Bubastis after the Thirtieth Dynasty. In 2004 a new
cult in this Late Period temple. One block represents a duplicate of the famous Canopus Decree, dating to the
fragment of an inventory list naming the cult statues of reign of Ptolemy III Euergetes (238 BC), was found in
Shesemtet and Wadjet, which were one cubit high and the entrance area of the temple. The fact that the edict
was erected here demonstrates that
this temple in the third century BC
still belonged to the three foremost
categories oF Egyptian sanctuaries.
illustrating that the temple of Bastet
was one ofEgypt's most inlportant cuit
centres for more than slr centuries.

fl l)aniela Rosenow is a PhD candidate at

the Humboldt Universiry tserlin and has been
r.vorking as a trenber of the Te1l Basta Project
since 2001. She would like to thank the Supreme
Courcil for Antiquities and the University of
Potsdam for giving her the opportunity to work
at Te11 Basta, and Marcel Mar6e of the British
Museurn for help in translating this article.
Block oJ a cult topographkal lst -from the Thirtieth Dynasty sailctudry. Photograph: Daniela Rosenow Illustrarionr O Tcll Ba:ta Projcct.

View publication stats