Ezekiel 30:17

17. Aven and of Pi-beseth The Greek, Latin, and Coptic correctly translate “on [Heliopolis] and Bubastis.” Heliopolis (“city of the sun,” Jeremiah 43:13) was one of the most renowned and holy cities of ancient Egypt. There the king “washed his face” before the sun-god centuries before Joseph married the daughter of the priest (Genesis 41:45). The spot is still called “sun fountain,” but even the rains of this celebrated city have disappeared, with the single exception of one lonely obelisk. Pi-beseth (Egyptian, Pi-beset, “house of Beset”) was undoubtedly Bubastis (now Tel Bast). There is probably a word play here between Beseth and the familiar Bo-sheth (shame) which was the Hebrew nickname for Baal (Jeremiah 11:13; 2 Samuel 11:21). The worship of Bast greatly resembled that of Baal. The city was the “key to the Delta,” protecting as it did the road used by all Syrian invaders. It was a magnificent city, one of the eight selected for mention by Pomponius Mela among twenty thousand said to have existed in the days of King Amasis who was a contemporary of Ezekiel. The great temple which Herodotus described at length is now a mere heap of bricks. Naville has thoroughly explored the ruins. (See Egyptian Exploration Fund, Eighth Memoir.)