The cult Temple of Horus in Edfu is a monumental monument that transports in the time of the civilization of Ancient Egypt

Temples of Ancient Egypt, built to worship the gods, are of great interest to scientists around the world. Every detail was made in accordance with the religious beliefs of the inhabitants.

The religious buildings that have survived to this day attract an incredible number of tourists, thus acquainted with a bygone civilization.

Well-preserved structure

Our story today will go about the beautifully preserved monumental temple located in the south of Egypt. The second largest religious complex is dedicated to the god with the head of the Hawk Hawk (Horus). It was his ancient architecture that was taken as a model when decorating the Egyptian hall of the Moscow Museum of Fine Arts named after Pushkin.

The Temple of Horus in Edfu was discovered in 1860 by a French archaeological expedition led by O. Marietta. The keeper of the Egyptian hall in the Louvre has done a great job of cleaning the building and restoring it.

Built for more than 180 years, the temple

This temple is the most important historical monument of Ancient Egypt. Scientists believe that the date of the beginning of its erection was 237 BC, and construction was conducted during the reign of the whole Ptolemaic dynasty and lasted almost 180 years.

All the temples of Ancient Egypt consisted of the classical elements that were inherent in the culture of the New Kingdom period. The sanctuary dedicated to the Mountain was rebuilt several times, and even the Roman Emperor Augustus made a contribution to the modification of the temple.

Building Architecture

On both sides of the entrance is a massive pylon, considered the second largest in Egypt. Behind him, in the open air in the courtyard enclosed by a small wall, general court hearings were held, and the local residents expressed their complaints and discontent.

At the entrance to the Temple of Horus in Edfu is a three-meter statue of a god in the form of a falcon, carved by skilful masters of black granite. Through the columns supported by columns, decorated with scenes of sacrifices, the path lay to the main sanctuary, in which was the statue of the deity. There were allowed only a pharaoh with great priests.

Decorated with scenes from the life of God, walls and ceilings

The inner and outer walls are decorated with the scenes of the birth of Horus in the presence of other celestials of ancient Egyptian culture, the marriage with Hathor, the birth of the son of Harsomt, the conflict with the equally powerful god Seth and the victory over him, as well as the coronation of the ruler of the whole world. In addition, they can read a report on the construction of the temple, donations and look at the local calendar.

High, more than 37-meter high ceilings of the temple are decorated with images of military scenes of the ruler of Ptolemy VIII, on which the god Horus looks.

Important for science hieroglyphs

The inscriptions of the sanctuary and sculptural reliefs are of great importance to the Egyptian philologists, since they represent the largest collection of hieroglyphs of the Greco-Roman period.

They found lists of books on construction, astronomy, geography, which used the Egyptians. Records decrypt the secret meaning of the proportions of the erected building, referring to mythical subjects. It is known that the creation of the temple was based on the book of Imhotep, who was building the tomb of Pharaoh Djoser. Also, recipes for the manufacture of incense and smoking mixtures used in secret ceremonies were described.

Main Sanctuary

At the end of the temple there is a sanctuary of granite, surrounded by twelve halls, which kept the statue of the deity, which the Greeks identified with Apollo. Her servants washed, smeared with incense, dressed and entertained. It was there that the place of ritual sacrifices was located. Once there was a Boat of Eternity of Horus in the granite burial vault.

Painted on religious themes, the halls around the sanctuary with the statue included prayer rooms, and some of them were dedicated to Osiris himself.

Spousal visit of the statue of Hathor

The attendants of the temple of Dendera, in which Hathor was worshiped, each summer sent her statue on a special ceremonial ship to the city of Edfu (Egypt), located between Aswan and Luxor. So the wife paid a matrimonial visit to her beloved husband Gora. And every night the priests left the great gods alone.

Legendary place

The impressive Temple of Horus in Edfu, rebuilt in the period from III to I century BC, is erected on a legendary place. According to legend, the god seriously experienced the death of his father Osiris and dreamed of taking revenge on the insidious offender. It was here that the match between Horus and Seth was held, in which the patron of the pharaohs won.

The fact is that the most beautiful and majestic temple is not the first one built on this territory. The first building was an ordinary hut woven from grass, and the penultimate, considerably inferior in size, was laid out of sandstone.

The Temple of Horus in Edfu as a monument of architecture and ancient history enjoys well-deserved attention of tourists from all over the globe, transferred in times of great pharaohs and mysterious pyramids. The beautifully preserved religious building revealed many secrets to descendants who are interested in civilizations wiped off the face of the earth.