Eastern Delta
Az-Zakazik and Bubastis
Inhabited for approx. 280 thousand. people in the city of Az-Zakazik (Zaqaziq, dim. prohibition) on the Al-Mo’izz canal (Muweis, starożytna odnoga tanityjska), the capital of the province of Ash-Sharkiyya, is distant by 80 km northeast of Cairo.
The center was established in the years 20. XIX w. as a camp for workers working on the construction of the dam on the eastern bank of the Nile. Currently, it is a grain and cotton processing center.
The ruins of Bubastis are an attraction (Egyptian Per Bastet, 3 km southeast of the city).
The most spectacular object is the great one, 7-a meter high statue of the goddess Hathor, located near the ticket office. Only a few columns have survived in the Bastet temple. Around,
on the south-eastern side of the road, there are piles of stones – some of them have been numbered, to reconstruct the temple from them (Egyptian-German plan). Perhaps the first sanctuary was built in the Old Kingdom, and rebuilt under Ramesses II. A structure made of red granite (100 m in length and 40-50 m wide) was supposed to be one of the most interesting in Egypt. The festive and hypostyle hall was built by Nektanebo II (XXX dynastia).
An important part of the district was the necropolis of the sacred animals – cats and rats. The mummies of animals were buried in special niches in the perimeter wall of the temple. The necropolis is from the Third Interim Period. Remnants have been found west of the Bastet sanctuary (two rows of pillars) temple for the pharaoh from the times of Teti and Pepi I. (In the dynasty) and two jubilee chapels prepared for the feast of Sed Amenemhat III (State diameter).