The City of Edfu & The Temple of Horus At Edfu
Edfu stands beside the Nile almost exactly halfway between Luxor and Aswan.
It was an important sacred site to the Egyptians because, according to ancient myth, this was where the falcon god Horus fought a fierce battle with his uncle Seth, who had cruelly murdered Horus’s father Osiris.
The Temple of Horus at Edfu, which was buried under sand and silt for nearly two thousand years, is the largest and best preserved Ptolemaic temple in Egypt. Construction of the temple began under Ptolemy III Euergetes in 237 BC and the main temple complex took 25 years to complete.
However, construction continued up to the time of Ptolemy XII Neos Dionysus (80-51 BC). Despite its relatively recent construction, the temple is of particular interest to Egyptologists because it closely imitates much older Pharaonic designs. The imposing 36-m (118-ft) high first pylon is typically decorated with Pharaonic scenes of Ptolemy XII defeating his enemies in front of Horus and Hathor.
Two elegant black granite statues of Horus flank the entrance to the pylon, which leads to a large colonnaded court and the first hypostyle hall. Behind this lies a second, smaller hypostyle hall with chambers off to the side. Gifts for the gods were stored in these rooms before being taken into the hall of offerings beyond.
Stairs lead from the hall of offerings to the roof, which has glorious views of the Nile and the surrounding fields. The staircase walls are beautifully decorated with scenes from the New Year festival, a ritual celebrated in temples all over Egypt.
On the first day of the year, in each temple, a procession of priests carried the statue of the temple god up to the roof to be revitalized by the sun. Beyond the hall of offerings is the sanctuary of Horns with its black granite shrine. Several chapels with excellent reliefs surround the sanctuary, one of which contains a model of Horus’s sacred barque.
Southwest of the temple lie the remains of Horus’s birth house. This was the focus of the annual Coronation Festival, a ritual celebrating the birth of Horus and his incarnation as the reigning pharaoh.
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