Az Zaqaziq, city in northeastern Egypt, capital of Sharqiyah governorate, 85 km (53 mi) northeast of the Egyptian capital, Cairo. Renowned for its large cotton ginning factories, Az Zaqaziq has numerous markets, shops, offices, banks, and a small archaeological museum. Local crops include cotton, corn, rice, clover, and wheat. Founded in the 19th century along the Muways Canal, which traces an ancient branch of the Nile River, Az Zaqaziq is a modern city with rail and road links to Cairo and the Suez Canal. Az Zaqaziq was the birthplace of Ahmed Arabi, the leader of nationalist uprisings in the early 1880s against Egypt's monarchy and the European forces that supported it. The city is also the seat of a Coptic Christian bishop.
On the southeastern edge of the city is Tell Basta (ancient Bubastis). One of the oldest sites in Egypt, Bubastis was built around the Temple of Goddess Bastet, who was depicted as a domestic cat, one of the most revered animals in the ancient Egyptian religion. Begun around 2500 BC and expanded throughout the following 17 centuries, the now ruined temple was the site of festivals said to have attracted 700,000 worshippers. Nearby is an ancient cat cemetery with a series of underground galleries where numerous bronze statues of cats have been found by archaeologists. Population (1992) 287,000.
