Edfu

Edfu (Idfu) was the Greek city of Apollinopolis Magna, and is a religious and commercial center. Located about 33 miles south of Esna and 65 miles north of Aswan, this is a friendly town which produces surgar and pottery. It is also a hub of a road network.  It was the capital of the second nome (Horus) of Upper Egypt. The main attraction in Edfu is the Temple of Horus, which is considered to be the best preserved cult temple in Egypt, but there is a mound of rubble to the west of the Temple which is probably the original old city of Djeba. The town was known as Tbot by the early Egyptians, by the Greeks as Apollinopolis Magna and by Atbo during Coptic times. It was the capital of the second nome (Horus) of Upper Egypt. French and Polish teams have excavated some of the ancient city, finding Old Kingdom mastabas and Byzantine house.

Temple of Edfu

The Temple of Edfu is an ancient Egyptian temple located on the west bank of the Nile in the city of Edfu which was known in Greco-Roman times as Apollonopolis Magna, after the chief god Horus-Apollo. It is one of the best preserved temples in Egypt. The temple, dedicated to the falcon god Horus, was built in the Ptolemaic period between 237 and 57 BCE. The inscriptions on its walls provide important information on language, myth and religion during the Greco-Roman period in ancient Egypt.

The Temple of Edfu is an ancient Egyptian temple located on the west bank of the Nile in the city of Edfu which was known in Greco-Roman times as Apollonopolis Magna, after the chief god Horus-Apollo. It is one of the best preserved temples in Egypt. The temple, dedicated to the falcon god Horus, was built in the Ptolemaic period between 237 and 57 BCE. The inscriptions on its walls provide important information on language, myth and religion during the Greco-Roman period in ancient Egypt. In particular, the Temple’s inscribed building texts “provide details of its construction, and also preserve information about the mythical interpretation of this and all other temples as the Island of Creation.” There are also “important scenes and inscriptions of the Sacred Drama which related the age-old conflict between Horus and Seth.” They are translated by the German Edfu-Project.

Edfu was one of several temples built during the Ptolemaic period, including Dendera, Esna, Kom Ombo and Philae. Its size reflects the relative prosperity of the time. The present temple, which was begun “on 23 August 237 BCE, initially consisted of a pillared hall, two transverse halls, and a barque sanctuary surrounded by chapels.” The building was started during the reign of Ptolemy III and completed in 57 BCE under Ptolemy XII. It was built on the site of an earlier, smaller temple also dedicated to Horus, although the previous structure was oriented east-west rather than north-south as in the present site. A ruined pylon lies just to the east of the current temple; inscriptional evidence has been found indicating a building program under the New Kingdom rulers Ramesses I, Seti I and Ramesses II.

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