Explorations in Bible lands during the 19th century - H. V. Hilprecht

646 EXPLORATIONS IN BIBLE LANDS
the great builder among the Pharaohs, restored its ancient
splendor by using the still remaining materials of the
older structure. He created a building of the first order,
having a length of one thousand feet — an edifice which
could stand side by side with the great sanctuaries of the
city of Thebes in Upper Kgvpt.
No less imposing must have been the temples of the
town of Bast, the Greek Bubastis, the ruins of which lie
near the town of Zaqaziq, and the name of which (Tell
Basta) reminds us of the ancient city. The ruins have suffered
considerably in the course of time, and the city must
have been destroved by an earthquake. Nevertheless, the
excavations carried on bv Naville in 1887-89, by order of
the English society, have been productive of much valuable
material for the study of the history and surroundings of
the sanctuarv. Especially the pyramid builders Cheops and
Chefren were active there, and also the kings of the Middle
Empire who have erected halls. In later times Rameses
II. rebuilt a great part of it, until at last it received, prior
to its final catastrophe, its present form under the kings
of the Twentv-second Dynasty and Nechterehbet (Nektanebes
I.). At that time it consisted of four large halls,
which together had a length of six hundred English feet,
and according to Herodotus was entered through a pylon
ornamented with reliefs, which had a height of ten fathoms.
Above all,Naville's excavations have brought to light remains
of the Middle Empire, especially columns of different
styles (of sistrum or palm leaf), which illustrated the
fact that about the third millennium before Christ Egyptian
architects were well acquainted with those principles of
art which show us a development that until Naville's discoveries
was thought to be known only in later times.
Among the smaller ruins of the Eastern Delta situated on
or near the great caravan road to Syria and Palestine, two
which were excavated by Petrie for the Egypt Exploration