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The Cult Temple of Horus at Edfu
| Location: | Edfu, between Luxor and Aswan, West Bank |
| Construction: | Ptolemaic (237-57 BCE) |
| Dedication | |
| Main Temple: | Horus |
| Chapels: | Various deities |
Edfu (Greek Apollinopolis Magna) is located about 33 miles south of Esna and 65 miles north of Aswan. It was the capital of the second nome (Horus) of Upper Egypt and was known as Tboth by the early Egyptians and as Atbo during Coptic times. The main attraction here is the Temple of Horus, which is considered by most to be the best preserved cult temple in Egypt.
Dedicated to
Horus, the falcon
headed god, the temple was built during the Ptolomeic period. There is a
great deal of information about its construction contained in the reliefs
on the outer walls. It was begun in 237 BC by Ptolemy III Euergetes I and
was finished in 57 BC. This is not only the best preserved ancient temple
in Egypt, but the second largest after Karnak. It was believed that the
temple was built on the site of the great battle between Horus and Seth
and therefore the current temple was only the last in a long series of
temples built on this location. There is a lengthy and detailed relief
relating this battle portrayed on the walls of the
ambulatory.
It is said that the original structure housing a statue of Horus was a
grass hut built in prehistoric times. At any rate, there is an earlier and
smaller pylon of Ramesses II which sits at rights angles to the current
building.
The main building, which includes a
great Hypostyle Hall,
was uncovered by Mariette in the 1860s. Horus was
Hathor’s
husband, and during the third month of summer, the priests at the Dendera
complex would place the statue of Hathor on her barque
(a ceremonial barge) and would transport the statue to the Edfu Temple,
where it was believed that Horus and Hathor shared a conjugal visit. Each
night, the god and goddess would retire to the
mamissi, or birth house.
There is still an entrance colonnade
to the mamissi, and reliefs with considerable remaining colour just
outside the main temple. These images portray the ritual of the birth of
Harsomtus, son of Horus and Hathor.
The
pylons
of the main Temple are 118 feet high with typical scenes of the pharaoh in
battle with his enemies (much of the decoration on the
ceiling of the pylon
gateway is in excellent condition). Within the pylons is the
colonnaded
courtyard with distinctive columns leading to the hypostyle hall. On
either side of the courtyard there are gates which lead to an area behind
the temple and inside the bounding walls. Here, there are inscriptions
recording donations of land which were probably transferred from demotic
documents. There are also dramatic images depicting the defeat of Seth by
Horus. There was an annual ritual called the known as the Triumph of Horus
(10 harpoons) which ended in the slaying of a hippopotamus, the symbol of
Seth.
The facade of the first hypostyle
hall has images honouring Horus and Hathor, and there is an immaculate
(and almost cartoon-like) ten foot tall
colossus
of Horus as the falcon god here (a matching colossus is missing). Just
inside the hall are two small rooms, a robing room on the west and a
library to the east where the priest would obtain the religious orders of
the day. Within this hall are scenes of offering including the temple
foundation ceremonies.
Beyond the great hypostyle hall is a
second, smaller hypostyle hall which leads to a well called the Chamber of
the Nile where the Priests obtained pure holy water. On the west side of
the room are doors that lead to a small laboratory with recipes engraved
on the walls for ointments and perfumes which where used daily to anoint
the statue of Horus, and to a treasure room where offerings were stored.
Beyond the second hypostyle hall is
the offering hall, followed by the vestibule and finally the
sanctuary.
There is a granite naos here dedicated by Nectanebo II, making it the oldest relic in the
temple. It is probable that a golden gilded wooden statue of Horus about
60 cm tall would have resided on the naos. This statue would have been
cared for by the priests who
would wash, dress, anoint, feed and entertain it.
The sanctuary itself is surrounded by chapels and rooms which, when facing north and in clockwise order, are the Chapel of Min, the Chamber of Linen where the robs of the Horus would have been stored, the Chamber of the Throne of Gods, the Chamber of Osiris, the Chamber of the West, the Tomb of Osiris, the Chamber of the Victor (Horus), where there is a reconstructed ceremonial barge (barque), Chapels of Khonsu and Hathor, the Chapel of the Throne of Ra and a Chapel of the Spread Wings, dedicated principally to Mehit, the lioness who guarded the path the soul passed on its journey towards resurrection. The front chapel on the east is the Chapel of the New Year, a sun court like that at Dendera. Here, a depiction on the ceiling show the voyage of the solar barque through the Twelve Hours of the day, with an image of the goddess, Nut. The statue of Horus would be taken from here up a flight of stairs to the roof terrace where it would be recharged by the sun during the Festival of the New Year. The walls of the stairs located in the outer anti-chamber depict this ritual.
Follow this link to view the Edfu photo gallery
Follow this link to view a plan of the temple