The General Description of Edfu Temple
Edfu Temple is the most preserved cult temple in Egypt because it was one of the last temples built during the Ptolemaic empire between 237 and 57 BC to be a place of worship for the sky deity Horus. It is the second largest Temple in Egypt after the Karnak Temple.
It is located on the western bank of the Nile River, halfway between Luxor and Aswan. The Temple is critical because it perfectly reflects the fusion between the Ptolemaic culture and the pharaonic culture of ancient Egypt. The inscriptions on its walls provided helpful information about Egypt’s religion, language, and mythology during the Hellenistic period.
The History of the Temple of Edfu
The Temple was built by order of Ptolemy III on August 23, 237 BC, and was completed in the reign of Ptolemy XII in 57 BC. The Temple was built on the spot where Horus is believed to have fought Set to avenge the murder of Osiris (the father of Horus) and his brother, according to the famous myth of Isis and Osiris.
All this information was revealed thanks to the essential scenes and inscriptions on the Temple’s walls. The Temple lost its prestige after the end of the Roman Empire, the rise of Christianity, and the prohibition of paganism in 391 AD. It was buried in the sand, protected in the heart of the desert for centuries until it was excavated in 1860 by an Egyptologist French named Auguste Mariette.
The Architecture and Interior of the Temple of Edfu
The architecture of the Temple is unique as it combines the elements of Greek and Egyptian culture. It contains a Greek birth house, “Mamisi,” to the west of the entrance at the height of 36 m and two granite statues of Horus on the site of the annual coronation festival and where the re-enactment of the divine birth of Horus was enacted.
It has one of the highest towers in Egypt, reaches a height of 37 m, and was built by Ptolemy IX; around it, there is a group of rooms, such as the Hypostyle room, built by Ptolemy VII to contain a ceiling with the painting of astronomical signs that symbolizes the sky supported by two rows of six pillars, the party room, and the offering room.
The holiest part of the Temple is the “Horus Sanctuary,” as it contains a black granite shrine, which was decorated by Nectanebo II, making it the oldest relic in the Temple. The wall has scenes of Ptolemy IV worshiping Horus.
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