Pi-Beseth

abode of the goddess Bahest or Bast

Pi-Beseth

A city of Egypt, called by the Greeks Bubastos, and containing a famous temple of the goddess Bubastis, who was compared to the Diana of Southern Europe. This temple was annually visited by immense multitudes. The ruins of Pi-beseth, on the eastern arm of the Nile near the ancient canal to Suez, consist of extensive mounds of bricks and broken pottery, Ezekiel 30:17.

PI-BESETH

pi-be'-seth (pi-be'seth;(pi-bheceth; Septuagint Bubastos; Egyptian Pi-Basht, "the house of Basht," the cat-headed goddess; the Egyptian form is usually Ha-Basht; it is doubtful if the form Pi-Basht has yet been found): A city of ancient Egypt. The only occurrence of the name of this place in the Old Testament is in Ezekiel 30:17; where it is coupled with Aven, i.e. On (Heliopolis).

1. Location:

Pi-beseth was on the western bank of the Pelusiac branch of the Nile, about 40 miles North of Memphis, about 15 miles Northeast of On. Herodotus found the city of Bubastis very beautiful in his day. The annual festival of the goddess, Basht, was celebrated here with revolting license, similar to that of the festival of Syyid el-Bedawer now kept in TanTa.

2. Exploration:

Pi-beseth was explored by Professor Naville under the Egyptian Exploration Society in 1887-90. There were uncovered ruins of Egypt from the IVth Dynasty of the Old Empire, from the Middle Empire, an important Hyksos settlement, and ruins from the New Empire down to the end, and even from Roman times. The most unique discovery at Pi-beseth, one of the most unique in all Egypt, is the cemetery of cats. These cats, the animal sacred to Basht, were mummified at other places in Egypt, but at Pibeseth they were burned and the ashes and bones gathered and buried in great pits lined with brick or hardened clay. Bones of the ichneumon were also found mixed with those of the cats in these pits (Egypt Exploration Fund Report, 1891).

M. G. Kyle

(Ezek. 30:17), supposed to mean. "a cat," or a deity in the form of a cat, worshipped by the Egyptians. It was called by the Greeks Bubastis. The hieroglyphic name is "Pe-bast", i.e., the house of Bast, the Artemis of the Egyptians. The town of Bubasts was situated on the Pelusian branch, i.e., the easternmost branch, of the Delta. It was the seat of one of the chief annual festivals of the Egyptians. Its ruins bear the modern name of Tel-Basta.

6364. Pi-beseth -- a place in Egypt
Pi-beseth. << 6363b, 6364. Pi-beseth. 6365 >>. a place in Egypt. Transliteration:
Pi-beseth Phonetic Spelling: (pee beh'-seth) Short Definition: Pi-beseth. ...
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