Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities has announced the discovery of the temple of Queen Berenike and 600 Ptolemaic statues in Alexandria, a finding that could represent the first traces of the ancient city's royal quarters.

Queen Berenike, who ruled in the third century B.C., was the wife of Ptolemy III. The discovery was made by Mohamed Abdel Maqsoud, head of antiquities of lower Egypt, during a routine excavation in the Kom el Dikka area.

The team also found a sizable assortment of statues depicting the cat goddess Bastet. It is believed that the temple may have been devoted to worship of the goddess, which would mean that worship of Bastet continued even after the decline of the Pharaohs.

Clay pots and bronze statues of other Egyptian gods including Harpocrates and Ptah were also discovered, along with clay pots dating back to the fourth century B.C., and a Roman water cistern.

Read more at Bloomberg.