Cat-goddess temple found

[momcat]

Archeologists have unearthed a 2000 year old temple that may have been dedicated to the ancient cat goddess, Bastet, the Supreme Council of Antiquities said Tuesday. The ruins of the Ptolemaic-era temple were discovered by Egyptian archeologists in the heart of the Mediterranian port city of Alexandria founded by Alexander the Great in the 4th century BC.

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 BC.

Mohammad Abdel-Maqsood, the Egyptian archeologist 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 suggested that this may be the first Ptolemaic era temple dedicated to the cat goddess to be discovered in Alexandria.

This would indicate that worship of the ancient Egyptian cat goddess continued during the later Greek influenced Ptolemaic period.

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.

[karyn674]

Wow! This is amazing news!

In fact I was flabbergasted when I visited the Egyptian museum about 5 years ago.......boxes with artifacts come in daily from excavation sites.

The size of the heritage this civilization left behind is just endless........... you can visit any museum in the world that has an egyptian section to it, like the Smitsonian, now try to imagine the tombs where not stolen before descovered.....! That is why King Tut's tomb is so important, because it was the most intact tomb and the findings of his burrial are amazing when one consideres that King Tut died after only 9 years of rule.

Who knows what people have in their 'private collections' scattered all over the globe!!

[catmandu]

That news makes My Found Ctas very happy, yet a bit miffed that theres not a stone temple for them in the back yard!!!
After all I do worship them dont I!
I will look this up , I hope that there are Photos!!!

[Freedom]

Bastet! Love her, jet black, gold earrings (no, I would NEVER do that to a real cat, lol, but she does look stunning) and gold ornamentation.

This is very interesting, thanks for sharing it with us!

[lvpets2002]

WoW that is very interesting.. Yes I have a Bastet figurine.. She was stunning.. I also heard the other day that the Abyssinian was the cat breed back then & is the oldest breed.. That was the head & ears & body shape that they found of the carvings with in the cave walls from back then..

[momcat]

Freedom, it was my pleasure to share this story with all of my PT friends. I agree with you and Karyn, this is fascinating news. For some reason, I've always been fascinated by anything to do with ancient Egypt. For the era, the technology is remarkable!

That news makes My Found Ctas very happy, yet a bit miffed that theres not a stone temple for them in the back yard!!!

Hi Gary, Groucho shares his excitement about the discovery with his Found Cats friends. Reading your post reminded me of a kitty saying I once heard;
"In ancient times cats were worshiped as gods. Cats have never forgotten this."

I did hear Groucho on his cell phone talking about how great it would be to visit the Bastet temple. Don't know who he was talking to though. Could our kitty companions be considering the ultimate Catmobile venture?