It stood east of Sais, near the Phatnitic mouth on the western bank of the Damietta Branch of the Nile.

It was regarded as one of the birthplaces of the god of the underworld Osiris, who was commonly given the epithet lord of Djedu (nb ḏdw) and its name maybe etymologically linked.

The temple of Isis, indeed, with the hamlet which sprang up around it, stood probably at a short distance without the walls of Busiris itself, for Pliny (v. 10. s. 11) mentions Isidis oppidum in the neighbourhood of the town.

Extant documents provide the name of two of its early bishops: Hermaeon and Athanasius, the latter of whom took part in the Second Council of Ephesus in 449.

[5][6][7] No longer a residential bishopric, Busiris is today listed by the Catholic Church as a titular see[8] of the lowest (episcopal) rank.