Open Air Museum

The successive excavations at the city of Bubastis (Tell Basta) have revealed many artifacts ranging from different sites and time periods. As there other various  monuments at the site, it eventually was repurposed into an open air museum, including  the black granite head of goddess Bastet in the form of a lioness, as a masterpiece.

In addition, one can find archaeological remains from the monumental gateway of the temple of Bastet, which was built by the 22nd Dynasty king Osorkon II (c.874–850 BC). This structure was entirely covered with depictions of Osorkon II celebrating the heb-sed Festival. Generally, this purely royal festival aimed to rejuvenate the king and renew his royal power.

At the site there is also a large amount of stone fragments bearing the names and epithets of kings. A sandstone block depicts a standard with human arms surmounted by the Ka-hieroglyph (in the shape of two upraised arms), and a king’s ‘Horus’ name was written inside. Although it was fragmentary, it contained the ‘Horus’ name of King Nectanebo II / Nekhthorhebyt (360–343 BC), the last king of the 30th and final Dynasty.

The open air museum also includes a group of statues of kings and deities. The most prominent is the red granite statue of the 19th Dynasty King Ramesses II (c.1279–1213 BC) standing between the goddess Hathor and the god Ptah. This, in turn, is found near a group of Graeco-Roman Period column capitals following the Corinthian style.

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