The city away from Edfu, into the west financial of the Nile 56km southern area out-of Esna and you may 105km north out of Aswan, are now an essential middle having sugar creation and you may pottery-and then make. Your website off Edfu Tell is known as Wetjeset-hor (traditional term Apollinopolis Magna), where the god Horus is worshipped and you may where the race anywhere between Horus with his traditional enemy Seth from inside the ancient mythology took place. Even though it are well covered because of the wasteland mud and you can person payment particles, Edfu temple are went along to by many people very early vacationer. The newest sand enjoys aided in preserving this building which was found getting nearly totally unchanged when it was first cleaned and you may excavated by the Auguste Mariette about 1860s.
The current urban area comes its title regarding old Egyptian Djeba that has been centered towards a good mound into the eastern lender
Of the many forehead remains from inside the Egypt, brand new Forehead out-of Horus at the Edfu is among the most well-maintained and also the one we know getting become finished. Built from sandstone reduces the massive Ptolemaic temple is developed over the site out-of a smaller before forehead, built east so you’re able to western, for the river. The newest afterwards structure face north so you can southern and you can simply leaves the new wrecked stays of the more mature temple pylon to be noticed for the eastern side of the earliest legal. Regarding building messages when you look at the later Ptolemaic temple and therefore survives today, we know that is started by Ptolemy III Euergetes We in 237 BC, however, was not accomplished up until 57 BC.
Nothing is well known about the earliest temple regarding Horus during the Edfu, but there’s inscriptional facts that The new Empire rulers Seti We, Rameses II and you will III did renovations indeed there
Until recently, folk contacted brand new temple earlier in the day the massive enclosure wall towards the west front, created that have figures of one’s Ptolemaic leaders giving to various deities. There is now a newly built coach park, cafeteria and you can unlock-air museum leading right to the leading of one’s forehead. The first structure i come to, within south-west part before the higher temple pylon, try a square colonnaded strengthening odd to Graeco-Roman temples, known as an excellent mammisi otherwise birth-home, made to celebrate the divine beginning regarding Horus. Brand new Roman mammisi in the Dendera was modelled with this design. Reliefs let you know brand new goodness Bes, birth views together with newborn young buck away from Horus and you may Hathor, Ihi (Harsomptus), nursed of the Hathor regarding marshes.
Carvings into enormous dual towers of one’s 36m high entrance pylon are nearly mirror photo of every almost every other on the conventional moments of the king smiting his enemies just before Horus. We can and additionally obviously see the mast grooves towards flags which could has actually fluttered really hot Ho chi minh city women during the access. Several statues of the Horus falcon remain until the head gateway. In entrances are a smooth courtyard flanked of the colonnades to the new east and western and on the southern which illustrates rescue carvings of the ‘Feast of the Breathtaking Meeting’. This was an extended and you may important festival the spot where the cult sculpture out of Hathor away from Dendera try brought to Edfu for the an excellent barge that have much complex routine and you can celebration, to satisfy their consort Horus due to their yearly reunion. Most other ceremonies of the festival is seen inside the walls of one’s courtyard.
To come ‘s the head temple facade facing which stands the popular colossal black stone statue away from Horus while the a beneficial falcon, putting on the newest twice crown off Upper minimizing Egypt. The fresh facade possess display structure with engaged columns on common version of Later Several months and Ptolemaic temples.
