Edfu temple in Egypt
Edfu is a city in the north of Aswan Governorate in Egypt. It is the second-largest city in Aswan Governorate and is located south of Luxor. Cemeteries were discovered from the era of the ancient Egyptian state, and the temple of Edfu, which was built in the Ptolemaic period for the god Horus, the city is linked to many cities of the Nile Valley. It is also linked to the city of Edfu. Marsa Alam by road, which increases its commercial activity, and the cities are located mostly on the western bank of the Nile, surrounded by many villages east and west of the Nile, and Edfu was the ancient site of the legendary battle between the god Horus and the god Set, and Horus was her first god.
Among the ancient Egyptian temples, the Great Temple of Edfu, famous for the Temple of Horus, is the most beautiful and largest. It is the second-largest temple in ancient Egypt after Karnak Temple. The Edfu Temple is located in Edfu, and the temple extends on the west bank of the Nile, 1300 meters away from it. The French archaeologist “Auguste Mayrett” in 1860 AD, where this temple was buried in the dirt…..
The construction of this temple took 180 years, and its construction began in the era of King Ptolemy I in the year 237 before the birth of Christ. Its decoration ended in the year 57 before the birth of Christ, and it was officially inaugurated in the year 42 before the birth of Christ. There are historical claims that the first temple was built In Edfu, it was designed by the architect “Amhotep”, who designed the step pyramid of Djoser in Saqqara, and that it was a rite for the worship of Horus. However, the wars prevented the completion of its construction quickly. Hence, the construction of the temple took 180 years to the extent that its decoration was completed only during the reign of Ptolemy XIII in the year 57 BC…….
It seems that wooing the Egyptians by building a great temple to the god they worship was a political goal of the Ptolemies. This is evident from the design of the temple and its inscriptions, as he intended to create a purely Egyptian temple on the pharaonic model that the Egyptians revere, without being greatly affected by Greek architecture, whose effects only Some of the few elements, such as the phenomenon of building the temple on a raised floor, and the phenomenon of the gradual rise of the temple floor, where the floor rises as we go inward with the gradual lowering of the ceiling. The Temple of Horus in the era of the Romans was subjected to burning and deformation of its walls to obliterate Ptolemaic rule’s features.
There is an inscription on the facade depicting Ptolemy whipping enemies and making offerings, and inside the temple, there is a statue of King Ptolemy. The walls and columns contain a treasure rich with information about ancient life, official and popular ceremonies, holidays, and several legends and tales, all through eloquent texts and inscriptions, eminently beautiful and extremely beautiful. It also includes the history and details of the temple’s construction. Edfu Temple is about 137 meters long, 79 meters wide, and 36 meters high. As for the edifice, it is 68 meters long and 34 meters high. There is a great gate, and the door of this gate was made of cedar wood inlaid with bronze and gold, and on top of it was the winged sun disk, which represented the poplar with my blade.
The temple generally consists of a hall, a hall with columns, and an open courtyard. In the front of the edifice stood two statues of Horus in the form of a falcon, and the temple contained a great gate. Behind the edifice is an open courtyard surrounded by columns on three sides, and in the middle, there was an altar for offerings. As for the atrium of the temple, it has 12 columns whose capitals represent the shapes of plants, and its entrance is adorned with two granite statues of the god “Hoor Bahdati” in the form of a falcon. After the hall, the visitor goes to the lobby of the columns and from there to the Holy of Holies, which is located at the last point of the temple. The temple has many catacombs that were used to hide valuables. The temple is connected to the Nile through a small underground stream used to measure the river’s water.