BUBASTIS

modern Tall Bastah ancient Egyptian city in the Nile River delta. It became important when the pharaohs of the 19th dynasty (12921190 BC) moved their capital from Thebes to the delta and reached its peak of prosperity when its prince, Sheshonk I (the biblical Shishak, reigned 945924 BC), became pharaoh. Later, however, it shared in the decay of the rest of the country and fell into ruin. The city's god was the cat-headed Bast, whose festival was among the most revelrous in Egypt.