(Edfu Temple (Temple of Horus

Edfu Temple (Temple of Horus)
Books / Haitham Al-Sinari
The Temple of Edfu or the Temple of Horus, is the second temple of ancient Egypt in size, after the Temple of Karnak. It is located in the city of Edfu in Upper Egypt on the west bank of the Nile, which was known during the Hellenistic period in Greek vernacular as (Ἀπόλλωνος πόλις) and in Latin (Apollonopolis Magna), representing the temple One of the last attempts of the Ptolemies to build temples in the style of their ancestors was grandeur. It took about 180 years to build the Temple of Horus. The temple was dedicated to the chief god Horus, who was identified as Apollo under the Greek interpretation. It is one of the best preserved shrines in Egypt. The temple was built during the rule of the Ptolemaic Kingdom between 237 and 57 BC. M. The inscriptions on its walls provide important information about language, mythology and religion during the Hellenistic period in Egypt. In particular, the inscribed temple building texts “provide [both] details of its construction as well as preserve information about the mythical interpretation of it and of all other temples such as the Island of Creation.” There are also “important scenes and inscriptions from the sacred drama that narrate the ancient conflict between Horus and Seth.” During the German Edfu project. The engraved symbols and letters remind the rituals that were followed in the past that the temple building was built where a great battle took place between Horus and Set.
“Build Date”
Edfu Temple is one of many temples built during the Ptolemaic Kingdom, including the temple complex of Dendera, Esna, Kom Ombo, and Philae. whose size reflects the relative prosperity at that time. The current temple, whose construction began “on August 23, 237 BC. It initially consisted of a colonnaded hall and two transverse halls, and the Chamber of the Holy of Holies surrounded by small niches.” The construction of the temple began during the reign of Ptolemy III. Ptolemy III Ergetes and completed in 57 BC. M. During the reign of Ptolemy XII the Piper. It was built on the site of an earlier, smaller temple also dedicated to Horus, although the earlier structure had an east-west orientation rather than north-south as at the present site. This destroyed edifice is located to the east of the current temple. Where written evidence was found indicating the existence of a building program during the reign of the kings of the New Kingdom, Ramses I, Seti I, and Ramses II.
Edfu temple in neglect as a religious relic after Theodosius I’s persecution of pagans and the decision to ban any worship other than Christianity within the Roman Empire in 391 AD. As in other places, many of the reliefs carved in the temple were defaced by followers of the Christian religion that dominated Egypt. It is believed that the black colonnaded hall ceiling, visible today, was the result of an arson aimed at destroying religious images that were considered pagan.
Over the centuries, the temple was buried at a depth of 12 meters (39 feet) under the drifting desert sands and layers of river silt deposited by the Nile. The locals built their homes directly on the grounds of the former temple. By 1798, only the upper extensions of the temple’s edifices were visible, when a French mission identified it. In 1860, the French Egyptologist Auguste Mariette began work on removing sand from the Temple of Edfu.
“religious connotation”
Edfu temple in neglect as a religious relic after Theodosius I’s persecution of pagans and the decision to ban any worship other than Christianity within the Roman Empire in 391 AD. As in other places, many of the reliefs carved in the temple were defaced by followers of the Christian religion that dominated Egypt. It is believed that the black colonnaded hall ceiling, visible today, was the result of an arson aimed at destroying religious images that were considered pagan.