Ptolemaic tomb found in Egypt

[Agbongbon]

Ptolemaic tomb found in Egypt

01:00 AM EST on Sunday, January 24, 2010

By Mahmoud Kassem

Bloomberg News

Egyptian archaeologists have uncovered the temple of Queen Berenike as well as 600 Ptolemaic statues in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria in what may be the first traces of the ancient city’s royal quarters, the Supreme Council of Antiquities said.

The remains of the temple, 60 meters in height and 15 meters in width, were discovered during routine excavation in the Kom el Dikka area of Alexandria by an archaeological mission led by Mohamed Abdel Maqsoud, head of antiquities of lower Egypt, the council said last week. Queen Berenike, who reigned in the third century B.C., was the wife of Ptolemy III.

The team found a large collection of statues depicting the cat goddess Bastet, indicating that the temple was dedicated to the deity. Clay pots and bronze statues of other Egyptian gods including Harpocrates and Ptah were also discovered, the Supreme Council said. The find suggests that the worship of Bastet continued even after the decline of the Pharaohs, it said.

The base of a granite statue of a top official during the reign of Ptolemy IV was also unearthed and is believed to celebrate Egypt’s victory over the Greeks during the Battle of Raphia in 217 B.C., the statement from Egypt’s archaeological authority said. A large number of clay pots dating to the fourth century B.C. as well as a Roman water cistern were also discovered, it said.

http://www.projo.com/art/content/artsun-tomb-found_01-24-10_8NH5OSE_v7.1b8adb4.html

[Agbongbon]

"..to celebrate Egypt’s victory over the Greeks during the Battle of Raphia in 217 B.C": I have to note that this is a misinterpretation. In the battle of Raphia two armies were opposed, the Seleucid and the Ptolemaic, which both had Greeks in their ranks. It's the hellenistic kingdoms we're talking about. So for example both armies had soldiers from Crete but from different towns. I must suggest the correction of your statement.