Topography and Archaeology of Per-Bast

Forget the pyramids in the desert. There was another Egypt, one of marshes, canals, and cities built on artificial mounds to escape the floods.

In the new History & Tales article, I take you into the Nile Delta to discover the urbanism of Per-Bast (Bubastis), home to the cult of the cat goddess Bastet.

Thanks to recent electrical resistivity surveys, archaeologists have confirmed what Herodotus wrote 2,500 years ago: the great temple of Bastet stood in a deep depression, surrounded by canals 30 meters wide. A true sacred island.

Discover how I used this peculiar topography to tell the religious trauma of Amarna in my novel The Eye of Bastet.