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==History==
The city was founded in the 19th century on the site of a village called ''Nazlat az-Zaqāzīq'' which was named after the Zaqzuq family.<ref>{{Cite book|last=رمزي|first=محمد|title=القاموس الجغرافي للبلاد المصرية|pages=89–92}}</ref> The family's name itself comes from a dialectal word ''zaqzuq'' or ''ziqziq'' which means "A small creature" (e.g. a fish or a mouse)<ref>{{Cite book|last=Behnstedt, Peter & Woidich, Manfred|title=Die ägyptisch-arabischen Dialekte. Band 4: Glossar Arabisch-Deutsch|year=1994|location=Wiesbaden|pages=188}}</ref> and comes from a [[Coptic language|Coptic]] word ϫⲉⲕϫⲓⲕ "[[Ant]] or other [[insect]]".<ref>{{Cite web|title=Coptic Dictionary Online|url=https://coptic-dictionary.org/entry.cgi?tla=C7144|access-date=11 June 2020|website=coptic-dictionary.org}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Sobhy|first=Georgy|title=Common words in the spoken Arabic of Egypt, of Greek or Coptic origin|year=1950}}</ref>

The ruins of the [[ancient Egypt]]ian city of [[Bubastis]] are located {{convert|3|km}} southeast of town. Bubastis was the ancient capital of the 18th [[nome (Egypt)|nome]], and is home to the feast celebrating the cat goddess [[Bastet]].

Bubastis is the [[Greek language|Greek]] version of the [[Egyptian language]] name ''[[Pr (hieroglyph)|Pr]]-Bastet'' "House [Temple] of Bastet". Bubastis became the capital of Egypt in the [[Twenty-second Dynasty of Egypt|22nd]] and [[Twenty-third Dynasty of Egypt|23rd Dynasties]]. There are remains of the temples built by [[Osorkon II]] and [[Nectanebo II]]. Catacombs where the sacred cats were buried are located behind the remains of an [[Old Kingdom of Egypt|Old Kingdom]] chapel from the period of [[Pepi I Meryre]].