Edfu Temple Plan

Touring The Temple

Edfu Temple size :

It is one of the huge temples, as it is the second largest temple in Egypt after the Karnak Temple.

Edfu Temple preserves all the architectural details and design.

The length of the temple from north to south is 137 meters and its width is 79 m.
The pylon rises 36 meters.

It is considered one of the most complete Egyptian temples.

The discoverer of the temple, the French Egyptologist August Mariet, in 1860.

When August Mariette arrived here, the temple was buried under the peasants' houses and horse stables, as there were nearly 100 houses built of mud bricks above the temple.

The Egyptologist August Mariette was forced to buy those houses and then remove them and excavate, search for and restore the temple , and these operations took ten years.

 Next to the temple there was a shrine in which a falcon was raised, it is the symbol of Horus.

The most important characteristic of the temple of Edfu is its preservation of many inscriptions and texts that tell us various rituals, such as the foundation of the temple,
the holy wedding feast, carrying the sacred boat, scenes of killing symbols of evil, scenes of the conflict between Horus and his uncle (Set), killing (Set) in front of the 9 of Edfu, a view Hippo sacrifice, net fishing , religious ceremonies in Ancient Egypt.

The temple also contains a large group of rooms and chapels (shrines), each of which has a specific role.       

The history of the construction of the temple:

It is the same history as of Kom Ombo’s.

This is the best preserved sacrificial temple in Egypt, and it is the most recent landscape obtained by archaeologists. 

The foundation of this temple began by Ptolemy III ( Georgiitz I ) in 237 BC for his worshipers, the god Horus.

And specifically according to the Gregorian calendar on August 23 , 237 BC 

The founding text of the construction of the temple also mentions the date of completion of construction on August 17 , 212 BC, during the reign of Ptolemy IV, nicknamed (Philopater), which means loving his father.

That is , 25 years after laying the foundation stone, the temple was built. 

As for the temple inscriptions, work continued for an additional 6 years. 

And with that, the construction and the inscriptions were completed in 207 BC.  

Then many Ptolemaic kings made many expansions and additions to the temple.

Such as Ptolemy V, Ptolemy VIII, Ptolemy IX, and finally Ptolemy XII ( the piper ), father of Cleopatra VII.

Ptolemy XII, the father of Cleopatra VII, was the one who placed his inscriptions on the first pylon of the temple while he was killing his enemies.

In the year 57 BC, the temple was in its current form, and thus the period it took to build the temple of Edfu would be 180 years.

It is strange that after taking more than 180 years to build the Edfu temple, this temple was not used to perform rituals for more than 27 years.

Where Egypt will lose its independence after the suicide of Cleopatra VII in the year 30 BC and a new era begins in the history of Egypt called the Roman era.

The ancient Egyptian religion became under Roman persecution, and the number of priests began to shrink, as well as the abandonment of temples.

And in the first four centuries AD, priests used to go from time to time to temples to perform some religious rituals, away from the eyes of the Roman soldiers.

At the beginning of the fourth century AD, a dangerous development took place in religious belief, as many Egyptians embraced Christianity, and as was the case with the ancient Egyptian religion, so was the case with Christianity. 

The Romans also persecuted Christians.

So they began to abandon the cities in the north and go to Upper Egypt, and in the meantime many ancient Pharaonic temples were converted into churches.

Unfortunately, the Christians were among them a lot of fanatics, so they began to remove and erase many of the ancient pharaonic inscriptions, as they viewed those inscriptions as pagan.

They also used the temple halls as food stores , horse stables, and sometimes housing.

Information about religious rituals

As I said that the temple was dedicated to the worship of Horus, who is the main deity of the temple.

But there were other gods worshiped in the temple beside Horus.

Why ? 

To ensure that the largest possible offerings are obtained.

Trinity Temple 

Horus, the main god 

Hathor ( wife ) 

Horus ( son ) unifier of the two lands ( Sama Tawi ) 

Horus had many different shapes and names.

Temple area : 6666 square meters.

This temple is symbolising the god Horus with the head of an falcon . It was built during the reign of Ptolemy VI.

“ Mariet “ discovered the main building with many halls. 

The composition of the temple:

First, the external wall :

It is built of adobe and its function is to separate the living world from the divine world.

A large part of this wall remains, as some parts of the temple are under the current houses.

There was a sacred lake and an altar for the temple, as well as the kitchens and storerooms of the temple, the houses of the priests… etc.

Temple Description 

Its design is typical of ancient Egyptian temples.

It consists of a main entrance on the same axis of the Holy of Holies ( one imaginary straight line ) . 

The edifice, then the uncovered courtyard, the great hypostyle hall, then the small pillar hall, then the offering hall, then the transfiguration hall, then the Holy of Holies.

Around the Holy of Holies there are 10 shrine ( rooms ).

These shrines were dedicated to different gods.

The first pylon : 

It consists of two towers,  between which is the entrance gate to the temple, topped by a lintel.

The symbolism of the two towers : they represent the mountain of the east and the mountain of the west, and between them the sun rises.

The height of the edifice is 35 meters and its width is about 80 meters. The gate is 14 meters high. Above the gate is the symbol of Horus ( The winged sun disk ).

To the right and left of the entrance there are two statues of the god Horus in the form of a falcon made of granite stone, and between the feet of the statue is a statue of a man believed to be the prince of the city.

The prince of the city had contributed to the temple, so his statue was placed between the feet of Horus.

Inscriptions of the pylon : 

On the right and left are inscriptions depicting King Ptolemy XII ( Piper ), father of Cleopatra VII.

The scene depicts how he strikes his enemies with his left hand and holds their hair in his right hand . In front of him is the god Horus and the gods Hathor. He gives them to victory over the enemies. So that he may obtain blessing and protection.

This, of course, is a symbolic representation, as in fact , Ptolemy XII, famous for the piper, had a very weak character and did not possess the capabilities of the strong warrior leader king, but all his abilities were to play the aboe, so he was called the piper.

The king’s strength and ferocity and his ability to defeat enemies should have been depicted on the inscriptions of monuments.

Sometimes it is said that he is Ptolemy XII and other times Ptolemy XIII.

And if we look at Ptolemy XII, we find that he is the inscriptions on the western tower wearing the red crown, the symbol of Lower Egypt. And on the inscriptions of the eastern tower he wears the white crown, the symbol of Upper Egypt.

Gaps in the masts in the edifice:

The function of these gaps is to install flagpoles. As they were used for lighting and ventilation. 

If we look at the gods engraved on the edifice, we find ( Horus , Jahuti ), Sekhmet, and Apis, and they all carry a sharp instrument in his hands. Why ? 

Because they are the gods of protection from evil forces, which may cause harm to the temple, the king, or the people. 

Under the inscriptions of the two towers, we find the signs ( ankh - alwas ) life and strength as a prayer to the king for longevity and lasting power.

Also on the shoulders of the door we find inscriptions of 12 gods carrying knives, and next to each deity whose name is such as the eater of the heart and the breaker of eggs. Each of the 12 deities whose mission is to protect the temple for a month ( all the year ).

The open courtyard:

Its dimensions are 46 meters long * 42 meters wide.

This open courtyard has a number of names that are mentioned on the walls.

Including: the annihilation of libations, intended to spill offerings. Meant to spill liquid offerings such as wine and beer.

It is also called the festive courtyard, where celebrations of major feasts are held. 

It is also called the court of purification. Where the priests purify themselves before entering the temple.

The courtyard is surrounded by three Hallways ( east, west and south).

The eastern and western porticoes each have 12 columns carrying a roof.

As for the southern Hallway ( behind the pylon ), it has 10 columns.

The most important feature of these columns are their capitals.

As each column on the eastern side is matched by one on the west side that looks exactly like.

Columns capitals in the open courtyard:

Composite crowns of papyrus, lotus and palm trees.

Hallway function:

The main goal of creating roofed corridors with a corridor is to protect the reliefs from the effects of the sun, rain and weather conditions.

Or as an umbrella for people during celebrations. 

On both sides of the entrance to the temple we find two statues of the god Horus in the shape of a falcon made of black granite and here they ancient Egyptian artist highlights Horus’ sharp gazes.

Columns are characterized by an abundance of inscriptions ( relief and bas-relief ) features of sculpture in the Ptolemaic period.

Most of the pictures and inscriptions in the courtyard speak of Ptolemy XII, father of Cleopatra VII.

Where he appears in most scenes and is making offerings to the gods of the temple, especially the two main deities ( Horus and Hathor ).

Three of the hieroglyphic signs appear here also on those columns, at the level of the human eye : ( Ankh Was Nab ) which means the owner of life and strength.