The Bubasteum or Bubasteion was a Ptolemaic and Roman temple complex dedicated to Bastet in the cliff face of the desert boundary of Saqqara.

In 1986, the Mission Archéologique Française du Bubasteion (MAFB), was founded, which has overseen all investigations of the site since then.

[2] In the second half of the 18th Dynasty, high dignitaries created rock-cut tombs for themselves in this area, which were later reused as cat-catacombs.

Radiographic investigations showed that the majority of cats were killed at a young age by either strangulation or by violent blows on their skulls.

[6] On the south side of the Bubasteum, near the excavation headquarters of the French mission, is a Steilhang, which contains two levels of tombs.

The majority of the graves are carved from the rock face, but some are built of high-value Tura limestone.