the twenty second dynasty of egyptian monarchs consisted of nine, or, according to eusebius of three bubastite kings, and during their reigns the city was one of the most considerable places in the delta. immediately to the south of bubastis were the allotments of land with which psamtik i rewarded the services of his ionian and carian mercenaries; and on the northern side of the city commenced the canal which pharaoh necho ii began (but never finished) to go between the nile and the red sea. after bubastis was taken by the persians, its walls were dismantled. from this period it gradually declined, although it appears in ecclesiastical annals among the episcopal sees of the province augustamnica secunda. bubastite coins of the age of hadrian exist.