The Snell Family | Gallery | Photos | Egypt | May | 2019

The Temple of Edfu is an Egyptian temple located on the west bank of the Nile in Edfu, Upper Egypt. The city was known in the Hellenistic period as Koin and Latin Apollonopolis Magna, after the chief god Horus, who was identified as Apollo under the interpretatio graeca. It is one of the best preserved shrines in Egypt. The temple was built in the Ptolemaic Kingdom between 237 and 57 BC.

Stone sentinels of the falcon-headed god Horus watch over the Great Pylon, while stone reliefs on either side of the gate sing the praises of Ptolemy King Neos Dionysos.

Statue of Horus

Statue of Horus wearing the double crown of Upper and Lower Egypt.

This statue of an eagle honors Horus, who is usually depicted with the bird of prey’s head. Pharaohs aligned themselves with this deity.

Lit by three small square apertures in the roof, the sanctuary was where the golden statue of Horus once stood upon a granite shrine (still in situ today), which is a relic of the pre-Ptolemaic temple. A corridor runs around the sanctuary leading off into several dark chambers, which are decorated with well-preserved and colorful reliefs. In the northern chamber is a replica of the wooden barque (the original can be seen at the Louvre in Paris), which would have held the golden statue of Hathor on festivals and during processions.

Gigantic pylons that stand at the entrance to the temple. At 118 feet high, they are decorated with battle scenes of King Ptolemy VIII defeating his enemies for Horus. As the tallest of the surviving Egyptian temples, the pylons also contain four large grooves that would have been used to anchor flags.

Having passed through the grandiose Forecourt, you come to the much more human-scale Vestibule decorated with 12 columns topped with elaborate floral capitals. Just as you enter are two small rooms. The western room is the Hall of Consecration, with a beautiful relief on its rear wall depicting gods Horus and Thoth pouring sacred water over the pharaoh. The eastern room was the temple's Library, with a list of books it once contained still inscribed on the wall along with a depiction of Seshat the goddess of writing.

Temple of Horus