DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.6640#0015
BUBASTIS.
TELL BASTA.
The most ancient mention of Bubastis -which
■we meet with, apart from the Egyptian texts,
exists in the prophet Ezekiel, in the prophesy
against Egypt.1 "The young men of Aven
and of Pi-Beseth2 shall fall by the sword; and
these cities shall go into captivity." The
Septuagint,3 translating the passage, give the
Greek names of the two cities ; Aven is Helio-
polis, and Pi-Beseth, Bubastis; and they are
followed by the Vulgate and the Coptic
version.4
It is to Herodotus that we are indebted for.
the most complete description of Bubastis.
The Greek writer speaks twice of the city;6
first in reference to the great festival which
was celebrated there annually, and afterwards
when he gives a detailed description of the
temple, to which wre shall have to revert further.
He also states that near Bubastis was the place
where the canal to the Red Sea branched off
from the Nile. From his account we learn that
Bubastis was a large city of Lower Egypt, and.
his statement is borne out by the narrative of the
capture of the town by the generals of Arta-
xerxes, Mentor, and Bagoas, which is found in
Diodorus.6 At Bubastis occurred for the first
time what was to be the cause of the fall of
several cities, and especially of the capital,
internal warfare between the foreign mer-
cenaries and the Egyptian troops, each party
betraying the other to the Persian general.
1 Ezek. xxx. 17. 3 -QDn-S
3 vtavlcTKOi 'HA.iou7roA.ea><> kcu Hovfiaarov Iv fxa^alpa, iraruvvTm.
4 rti £>e?\cyipi rtTe curt ^Raki rtTe cj>pn
rtejut cJ>oyB.aco! evegej *>Hrt tchcji.
5 ii. 60, 137. 6 xvi. 49.
Strabo speaks of the nome or province of
Bubastis as being near the head of the Delta in
the immediate vicinity of the nome of Heliopolis.
Bubastis is one of the eight famous cities men-
tioned by Pomponius Mela among the twenty
thousand said to have existed under Amasis,
and of which many were still inhabited in his
time. Roman coins of the time of Hadrianus
bear the name of the nome of Bubastis. It
occurs in Ptolemaeus and Stephanus Byzantinus.
Hierocles quotes Bubastis among the cities of
the second Augustamnica, and it was one of
the bishoprics of Egypt. A Byzantine chrono-
grapher, John, Bishop of Nikiou,7 quotes the
city of Basta in connection with a rebellion
which took place under the Emperor Phocas,
and the Arab geographer Macrizy8 speaks of it
repeatedly. Among the provinces of Egypt
was the district of Bastah, wdiich contained
thirfcy-nine hamlets. Bastah was given as
allotment to the Arab tribes who had taken
part in the conquest. Afterwards it belonged
to the province of Kalioub.
We do not know when it was abandoned.
Travellers did not direct their attention to the
place, and the first to have noticed the ruins
seems to be the Frenchman Malus, who took
part in the Egyptian campaign at the end of
last century. He gives the following descrip-
tion of the place :9—
" The ruins of Tell Bastah are seen from a
great distance. They are seven leagues distant
from the Nile, and half a league from the canal
(the Muizz), on its right side. We saw there
7 Chron. de Jean de Nikiou, ed. Zotenbcrg, p. 201.
8 Quatremere, Mem. sur l'Egypte, p. 100.
9 Memoires sur l'Egypte, i. p. 215.
B
TELL BASTA.
The most ancient mention of Bubastis -which
■we meet with, apart from the Egyptian texts,
exists in the prophet Ezekiel, in the prophesy
against Egypt.1 "The young men of Aven
and of Pi-Beseth2 shall fall by the sword; and
these cities shall go into captivity." The
Septuagint,3 translating the passage, give the
Greek names of the two cities ; Aven is Helio-
polis, and Pi-Beseth, Bubastis; and they are
followed by the Vulgate and the Coptic
version.4
It is to Herodotus that we are indebted for.
the most complete description of Bubastis.
The Greek writer speaks twice of the city;6
first in reference to the great festival which
was celebrated there annually, and afterwards
when he gives a detailed description of the
temple, to which wre shall have to revert further.
He also states that near Bubastis was the place
where the canal to the Red Sea branched off
from the Nile. From his account we learn that
Bubastis was a large city of Lower Egypt, and.
his statement is borne out by the narrative of the
capture of the town by the generals of Arta-
xerxes, Mentor, and Bagoas, which is found in
Diodorus.6 At Bubastis occurred for the first
time what was to be the cause of the fall of
several cities, and especially of the capital,
internal warfare between the foreign mer-
cenaries and the Egyptian troops, each party
betraying the other to the Persian general.
1 Ezek. xxx. 17. 3 -QDn-S
3 vtavlcTKOi 'HA.iou7roA.ea><> kcu Hovfiaarov Iv fxa^alpa, iraruvvTm.
4 rti £>e?\cyipi rtTe curt ^Raki rtTe cj>pn
rtejut cJ>oyB.aco! evegej *>Hrt tchcji.
5 ii. 60, 137. 6 xvi. 49.
Strabo speaks of the nome or province of
Bubastis as being near the head of the Delta in
the immediate vicinity of the nome of Heliopolis.
Bubastis is one of the eight famous cities men-
tioned by Pomponius Mela among the twenty
thousand said to have existed under Amasis,
and of which many were still inhabited in his
time. Roman coins of the time of Hadrianus
bear the name of the nome of Bubastis. It
occurs in Ptolemaeus and Stephanus Byzantinus.
Hierocles quotes Bubastis among the cities of
the second Augustamnica, and it was one of
the bishoprics of Egypt. A Byzantine chrono-
grapher, John, Bishop of Nikiou,7 quotes the
city of Basta in connection with a rebellion
which took place under the Emperor Phocas,
and the Arab geographer Macrizy8 speaks of it
repeatedly. Among the provinces of Egypt
was the district of Bastah, wdiich contained
thirfcy-nine hamlets. Bastah was given as
allotment to the Arab tribes who had taken
part in the conquest. Afterwards it belonged
to the province of Kalioub.
We do not know when it was abandoned.
Travellers did not direct their attention to the
place, and the first to have noticed the ruins
seems to be the Frenchman Malus, who took
part in the Egyptian campaign at the end of
last century. He gives the following descrip-
tion of the place :9—
" The ruins of Tell Bastah are seen from a
great distance. They are seven leagues distant
from the Nile, and half a league from the canal
(the Muizz), on its right side. We saw there
7 Chron. de Jean de Nikiou, ed. Zotenbcrg, p. 201.
8 Quatremere, Mem. sur l'Egypte, p. 100.
9 Memoires sur l'Egypte, i. p. 215.
B