Edfu Temple “The Temple of Horus”

Edfu temple is the most preserved cult temple in Egypt. It was built during the Ptolemaic Kingdom between 237 and 57 BC as a worship house of the sky deity Horus. The Temple of Horus is the second-largest temple in Egypt after the Karnak temple. It was one of the last attempts by the Ptolemaic dynasty at the building in the style and grandeur of their predecessors.

The temple is located in Edfu on the west bank of the Nile River, halfway between Luxor and Aswan. It was built along with many other notable temples, including Dendera, Esna, Kom Ombo, and Philae. It is highly important as it perfectly reflects the Ptolemaic culture with the Ancient Egyptian Pharaonic culture. The inscriptions on its walls provided useful information on the religion, language, and myth during the Hellenistic period in Egypt.

Edfu temple represents also a lost art that showcases the true spirit of the ancient Egyptian civilization from the perspective of the Ptolemaic dynasty. It was built on the land believed to have witnessed the greatest battle in the history of ancient Egyptian Mythology. This battle was between the powers of good and evil in the image of the ancient Egyptian gods of Horus and Set. Edfu temple is one of the last temples ever built in the history of ancient Egypt. It stands as a final symbol of the brilliance, honor, and glory of the ancient Egyptian heritage.

Edfu Temple History

Ptolemy III ordered to construct the Edfu temple on 23 August 237 BC and completed it in the reign of Ptolemy IV in 57 BC. In 391 BX Theodosius I of Rome declared all non-Christian worship illegal throughout the Roman Empire. As a result, Egyptians were no longer able to use the temple for religious purposes. While the Romans never set out to destroy the temple, many of its finest artifacts and sculptures were destroyed. To this day, visitors to the site can still see visible evidence of this destruction. This includes the blackened ceiling within the hypostyle hall. Historians believe this was caused by fires that the Christians might have started in an attempt to eradicate any traces of paganism.

For 200 years Edfu Temple was also buried to a depth of almost 40 feet as a result of shifting sands and the behavior of the nearby Nile River. This incredibly helped to conserve it to near perfection. During this period several homes were built over the grounds of the temple until it was excavated in 1860 by a French Egyptologist named Auguste Mariette. Eventually, a major sand-clearing project got underway, and the majestic Edfu Temple was once again introduced to the world.

Architecture and Interior of Horus Temple

Many elements make the Edfu temple very unique. It contains for example a Greek Birth House “Mammisi” at the west of the entrance at the height of 36m; and two granite Horus statues which were the site for the annual festival of coronation and the location where the re-enacting of the divine birth of Horus took place. It has also one of the largest pylons in Egypt reaching a height of 37 m. This pylon was constructed by Ptolemy IX and decorated with battle scenes.

There is also an open courtyard that contains columns with floral capitals. It is also known as the court of offerings. There is a hypostyle hall that contains 12 columns to support the roof. It contains a ceiling with astronomical paintings symbolizing the sky supported by two rows of six Pillars. At the end of this magnificent temple, there is a sanctuary. It includes a niche where there is a statue of the god. This sanctuary is also surrounded by 12 rooms. There are many religious scenes on the walls of the sanctuary. Some rooms are dedicated to religious purposes.

There is also a Nilometer, which is considered to be the most important element of the temple; as it is used to measure the water level of the Nile as well as a chapel, dedicated to the goddess Nut, there are many battle sceneries over the temple walls, which gives the temple its touristic importance. The wall located in the northern part of the court shows the marriage of Horus and Hathor. This marriage celebrated twice yearly, once in the Edfu temple and the other is in the Dendera temple. It includes a pylon that was built by Cleopatra’s father in the first century BC. It leads into a peristyle court and then a hypostyle hall that precedes the sanctuary of Horus.

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