PIBESETH

(Pi·beʹseth) [from Egyptian, meaning “House of [the goddess] Bastet”].

A city mentioned along with On (Heliopolis) at Ezekiel 30:17 in a prophecy directed against Egypt. The Septuagint rendering of the text identifies Pibeseth with Bubastis, an ancient city of the Delta region, the remains of which are at Tell Basta, about 70 km (43 mi) NNE of Cairo, near the modern city of Zagazig. The name of the ancient city as it appears on Egyptian inscriptions shows a clear similarity to the Hebrew Pibeseth.

Pibeseth, or Bubastis, was the seat of the worship of the goddess Bastet, or Bast, a feline goddess often represented with the head of a cat. The presence of a large burial ground for cats near the city testifies to the prominence of her worship there. An annual festival was held in honor of Bastet, drawing thousands of adherents from all parts of the land.

While Pibeseth was the capital of the 18th nome (district) of Lower Egypt, it reached its greatest political prominence with the line of Libyan rulers over Egypt begun by Pharaoh Shishak, a contemporary of Solomon and Rehoboam. (1Ki 11:40; 14:25, 26) Pibeseth was a royal city of Shishak. Ezekiel’s prophecy relates to the Babylonian conquest of Egypt when Pibeseth would be overrun. The Persians later destroyed the city, and today only ruins remain on the ancient site.