Egypt announces find of ancient cat goddess temple

Associated Press ^ | Jan 19, 2010 | HAMZA HENDAWI

[decimon]

CAIRO – Archaeologists have unearthed a 2,000-year-old temple that may have been dedicated to the ancient Egyptian cat goddess, Bastet, the Supreme Council of Antiquities said Tuesday. The ruins of the Ptolemaic-era temple were discovered by Egyptian archaeologists in the heart of the Mediterranean port city of Alexandria, founded by Alexander the Great in the 4th century B.C.

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 B.C.

[Lady Jag]

Bast lives in all cats.

[colorado tanker]

[martin_fierro]

[Slings and Arrows]

It’s not the size of the cat in the fight, it’s the size of the fight in the cat.

[Allegra]

Samir can be quite demanding on occasion. :)

[humblegunner]

Sawmill!

[TheOldLady]

I have three of those, and they’re basement cats, too. My lovey fuzzy faces.

[anglian]

Speaking of cats. The Guennol Lioness CIRCA 3000-2800 B.C. Height 3 1/4 in. Sold by Sotheby’s for US $57.2 million. http://www.sothebys.com/app/live/lot/LotDetail.jsp?lot_id=159415093

[SunkenCiv]

Mummy told me there’d be topics like this.

[dr_who]

Cats must have seemed as sent by the gods.

Now wait just a minute! Where do you get off saying that when anyone can clearly see that "dog" is "GOD" spelled backwards?! I swear, some people just don't know nuthin.

[garjog]

Here is a reconstruction of what they think the entrance to the Kitty Temple looked like: