The Naos of ‘Bastet,Lady of the Shrine’ from Bubastis

Abstract

Although the period of the Thirtieth Dynasty is characterised by conflicts between the peoples of the Mediterranean world and the Persians, Nekhtnebef (I) and Nekhthorheb (II) were able to implement an extensive building programme, which is reflected in construction work throughout Egypt. Bubastis in the Eastern Delta benefited from this programme: Nekhthorheb II renewed the rear part of the Great Temple of Bastet and — in the course of these building activities — dedicated a couple of granite shrines. Recently discovered shrine fragments from Tell Basta allow a reconstruction of the architecture and decoration of the naos of ‘Bastet, lady of the shrine’ in its original context: the naos was provided with an additional inner niche, whose socle was decorated with the icon of the ‘unification of the Two Lands’ and seems to have housed a processional image of Bastet. The shrine offers promising insights into a sphere which has not yet been satisfactorily studied.