Pi-be'seth (Ileb. id. nM-iQ; Sept. Bovf3aaroQ ; Vulg. Bubastus), a town of Lower Egypt, mentioned but once in the Bible (Ezek. xxx, 17). In hieroglyphics its name is written Bahest, Bast, and Ila-Bahest, followed by the determinative sign for an Egyptian city, which was probably not pronounced. The Coptic forms are Bast, with the article pi prefixed, or Poubaste, Poubast, Phoubasthi, Bouasti, Pouast ; and the Greek, Boi'/3«a- tiq, BovfiaaToe,. The first and second hieroglyphic names are the same as those of the goddess of the place, and the third signifies the abode of Bahest, that god- dess. It is probable that Bahest is an archaic mode of writing, and that the word was always pronounced, as it was sometimes written, Bast. It seems as if the civil name was Bahest, and the sacred Ha-Bahest. It is difficult to trace the first syllable of the Hebrew and of the Coptic and Greek forms in the hieroglyphic equiv- alents. There is a similar case in the names Ha-llesar. Bousir-i, Pousiri, Bovoipic, Busiris. Dr. Brugsch and M. Deveria read Pe or Pa, instead of Ha ; but this is not proved. It may be conjectured that in pronuncia- tion the masculine definite article pepa or pi was pre- fixed to Ha, as could be done in Coptic : in the ancient language the word appears to be common, whereas it is masculine in the later. Or it may be suggested that the first syllable or first letter was a prefix of the vul- gar dialect, for it is frequent in Coptic. The name of Philaj may perhaps afford a third explanation, for it is written Eelck-t, Eekk, and P-Eelek (Brugsch, Geogr. Inschr. i, 156, Nos. 626, 627) ; whence it would seem that the sign city (not abode) was common, as in the first form the feminine article, and in the last the mas- culine one, is used, aud this would admit of the reading Pa-Bast, " the [city] of Bubastis [the goddess]." The goddess Bast, who was here the chief object of worship, was the same as Pesht, the goddess of fire. Both names accompany a lion-headed figure, and the cat was sacred
to her. Herodotus considers the goddess Bubastis to be the same as Artemis (ii, 137), and that this was the current opinion in Egypt in the Greek period is evi- dent from the name Speos Artemidos of a rock temple dedicated to Pesht, and probably of a neighboring town or village. The historian speaks of the annual festival of the goddess held at Bubastis as the chief and most largely attended of the Egyptian festivals. It was ev- idently the most popular, and a scene ef great license, like the great Moslem festival of the Seyid el-Bedawi celebrated at Tanteh in the Delta (ii, 59, 60).
There are scarcely any historical notices of Bubastis in the Egyptian annals. In Manetho's list it is related that in the time of Boethos, or Bochos, first king of the 2d dynasty (B.C. cir. 2231), a chasm of the earth opened at Bubastis, and many perished (Cory's .1 ncient Frag- ments. 2d ed. p. 98, 99). This is remarkable, since, though shocks of earthquakes are frequent in Egypt, the actual earthquake is of very rare occurrence. The next event in the list connected with Bubastis is the accession of the 22d dynasty (B.C. cir. 990), a line of Bubastite kings (ibid. p. 124, 125). These were either foreigners or partly of foreign extraction, and it is prob- able that they chose Bubastis as their capital, or as an occasional residence, on account of its nearness to the military settlements. See Migdol. Thus it must have been a city of great importance when Ezekiel foretold its doom : " The young men of Aven and of Pi-beseth shall fall by the sword: and these [cities] shall go into captivity" (xxx, 17). Heliopolis and Bu- bastis are near together, and both in the route of an in- vader from the East marching against Memphis. Bu- bastis was situated on the west bank of the Pelusiac or Bubastite branch of the Nile, about forty miles from the central part of Memphis, and was the principal town of the Bubastite nome (Pliny, Hist. Nat. v, 9 ; Ptolemy, iv, 5). Herodotus speaks of its site as hav- ing been raised by those who dug the canals for Sesos- tris, and afterwards by the labor of criminals under Sabacos the Ethiopian, or, rather, under the Ethiopian dominion. He mentions the temple of the goddess Bu- bastis as well worthy of description, being more beautiful than any other known to him. It lay in the midst of the city, which, having been raised on mounds, overlooked it on every side. An artificial canal encompassed it with the waters of the Nile, and was beautified by trees on its bank. There was only a narrow approacli lead- ing to a lofty gateway. The enclosure thus formed was surrounded by a low wall, bearing sculptures ; with- in was the temple, surrounded by a grove of fine trees (ii, 137, 138). Sir Gardner Wilkinson observes that the ruins of the city and temple confirm this account. The height of the mounds and the site of the temple are very remarkable, as well as the beauty of the latter, which was "of the finest red granite." It "was sur- rounded by a sacred enclosure, about 600 feet square, . . . beyond which was a larger circuit, measuring 940 feet by"l200, containing the minor one and the canal." The temple is entirely ruined, but the names of Rame- ses II of the 19th dynasty, Userken I (Osorchon I) of the 22d. and Nekht-har-heb (Nectanebo I) of the 30th, have been found here, as well as that of the eponymous goddess Bast. There are also remains of the ancient houses of the town, and, " amidst the houses on the WW. side are the thick walls of a fort, which protected the^emple below" (Notes by Sir G. Wilkinson in Raw- linson's Herodotus, ii, 186, plan). Bubastis thus had a fort, besides being strong from its height.— Smith. The citv was taken by the Persians, who destroyed the walls (Diod. Sic. xvi, 51); but it was still a place of some consideration under the Romans. It was near Bubastis that the canal leading to Arsinoe (Suez) open- ed to the Nile (Strabo, xvii, 805; Mela, i, 9, 9; Herod, ii, 138); and although the mouth was afterwards often changed and taken more southward, it has now returned to its first locality, as the present canal of Tel el-Wadi commences in the vicinity of Tel Basta. This Tel