CAIRO, Jan. 19 .- An Egyptian archaeological mission has discovered the remains of an Alexandrian Ptolemaic temple dedicated to the goddess Bastet and belonging to Queen Berenice, wife of Ptolemy III, which dates back to the third century BC.

According to a statement released today by the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA), the expedition, which was headed by the Director of Antiquities of Lower Egypt, Mohamed Abdel Maqsud, also unearthed 600 different objects from that period.

The note explains that the discovery was made during routine excavations in the area of Kom to Dika, in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria, within a military compound.

The secretary of the CSA, Zahi Hawas, has said that the temple's dimensions are 60 meters long by 15 meters wide and extends under the street Ismail Fahmi.

Hawas as the building was destroyed in the last period of the Ptolemaic era when it was used as a quarry, causing the disappearance of many of its blocks of stone.

Among the objects that have been rescued by 18 members of the expedition are the figure of the goddess Bastet represented with a cat, considered the goddess of maternity protection and, indicating, according to Abdel Maqsud, the temple was dedicated to this deity.

Maqsud said they were found three statues of Bastet at three different points of the excavation along with other stone carvings of a child and a woman.

Also found clay pots and bronze statues and pottery of the deities of ancient Egypt, as well as terracotta figures of gods Harpócrates (Horus the child) and Ptah.

The note explains that previous excavations at the archaeological site revealed that the origin of the temple, the first of the Ptolemaic era was discovered in Alexandria dedicated to the god Bastet, can be dated to the reign of Queen Berenice.

Among the findings, the release features a granite base of a statue of a Greek inscription which indicates that the sculpture belonged to a senior official at the time of Ptolemaic successor of Ptolemy III (246-22) and son of Berenice, Ptolemy IV (222-205 BC).

To Maqsud this statue was erected to commemorate the Egyptian victory against Greece in the battle of Raphia in 217 BC

They have also come to light several structures, including a water cistern of the Roman era, a group of wells 14 meters deep, stone troughs and the remains of an ancient bath.

Abdel Maqsud believes that this discovery is the first track on the true location of the royal apartments of the dynasties that ruled this ancient Mediterranean city.

Source: http://www.terra.cl/actualidad/index.cfm?id_cat=1167&id_reg=1343155