Return of the Cat Goddess

As a Cat Person /archeology buff from way back (in my youth, I studied Near Oriental Archeology at the University of Copenhagen, and I'll stick archeology into a story at the drop of a hat) I was excited to learn that the remains of a temple belonging to Queen Berenice II - wife of King Ptolemy III - have been discovered by archaeologists in the Kom el-Dekka area in Alexandria, Egypt.

As the excavation also unearthed a large collection of statues depicting the cat goddess Bastet, the goddess of protection and motherhood, archeologists think the 2200-year-old temple may in fact have been dedicated to this ancient Egyptian deity. This would indicate that the worship of Bastet continued during the later, Greek-influenced, Ptolemaic period.

And how cute are these statues? I want one.