The current village is built over the ancient city of Djeba.
Edfu is about 60 km south of Esna and is midway between Luxor
and Aswan.
The temple of Edfu is dedicated to Horus .
It is built over the place of the decisive battle between Horus
and Seth,
as believed by ancient Egyptians.
The temple follows typical architecture of ancient Pharaohs
though constructed by Ptolemy
III Euergetes in 237 BC and completed by Ptolemy
XII Neos Dionysos in 57 BC.
The temple used to host the annual 'feast of the beautiful meeting.'
The ritual was to start at Dendara
temple with Hathor's
statue placed in a barque
and sail the Nile River down to Edfu to be placed beside Horus,
her husband, in the sanctuary amid celebrations.
Another festival was the birth of Horus and consequently the
coeval Pharaoh who was regarded as his reincarnation. Hippopotami,
symbol of evil-God Seth, were slain in the event marking the
triumph of Horus over him.
This temple is probably the most preserved temple in Egypt.
The entrance of the temple is through a massive pylon that bears
the bas-reliefs of Ptolemy XII attacking his enemies.
Other scenes depict the feast of the beautiful meeting in representation
of the union between Hathor and Seth.
Beyond the pylon is the court flanked by 32 columns on 3
sides (See Image 1). Two side gates at the fourth side (the
northern) lead to a passage that lies between the outer walls
of the temple and the inner part of the temple.
Scenes here also feature the triumph of Horus and the slaughter
of hippopotami.
Beyond the court is the first hypostyle
hall lined by 18 columns with two small chambers at the front
wall; the hall of robing and the library.
The second colonnaded
hypostyle hall comes next. This is smaller in size and has
two storerooms attached to the left.
Further beyond is the offering room with stairs leading to
the roof at left and eventually the sanctuary that contains
a granite naos
(See Image 5).
Surrounding the sanctuary are ten chapels dedicated to different
Egyptian deities.
|
