The Temple of Horus at Edfu

Pylon Gateway

Peristyle Courtyard

Stylised Leaves

An Open Lotus Capital

Damaged Figures

Sun Disc over Gateway

Naos Shrine

View Through Gateway into Peristyle Courtyard

Lintel at Edfu

The Sacred Barque

Statue of the god, Horus

(Tour arranged and organised by Cecelia and Lindy at Egypt & Beyond.)

The beautiful temple of Horus at Edfu is second in size only to the massive temple complex of Karnak at Luxor and was built on the ruins of an earlier Pharaonic temple; the ground was believed to have been the site of the battle between the god, Horus and his uncle, the god Seth, in which Horus emerged victorious. It's the best preserved of all the temples in Egypt, probably because it was almost completely buried in sand for over 2 millennia. Other than smoke damage, vanished gold leaf and minor vandalism, it is virtually the same as it was when it was built. It has the further distinction of being entirely Ptolemaic - that is, its construction was started in 207BCE by Ptolemy III Euergetes I and was finished in 57BCE by Ptolemy XII - twenty-seven years before the Romans arrived.

The entrance to the temple was through a pylon gateway; the pylons are somewhat unusual in that both sides were planned to be mirror images of each other, even to the decorations on the walls. The façade of this temple dedicated to Horus depicts the Pharaoh in the ancient 'smiting pose,' ready to smite his enemies before the gods Horus and Hat-hor. Also on the façade are the deep grooves which held the flag poles or masts - access to the masts was via a staircase inside the pylons; these led to rooms from where the masts were accessed. Two damaged figures of the god Horus as a falcon still stand guard at the entrance. 

When you're through the gateway, turn round and have a look at the reliefs on the inner surface; these depict the 'Feast of the Beautiful Meeting' - this was the annual reunion of Horus and his wife Hat-hor that took place in the third month of summer. The priests of Hat-hor would bring her statue from its sanctuary at her temple at Dendera to Edfu where the two deities were united each day for fourteen days and in so doing, they spiritually connected this temple with Hat-hor's own temple at Dendera, north of Edfu. 

Turning away from the entrance, you find yourself in a courtyard or peristyle court, surrounded on three sides by a colonnade supported by thirty-two columns; looking at each column, you'll see that they all have stylized leaves at the bases while the capitals are floral in type; this is believed to represent vegetation shooting up towards the sun. Above the stylized leaves, have a look at the exquisitely carved 'ankh' (life) and the 'uas' (power) sceptre symbols. An interesting fact is that the courtyard floor has been paved to resemble the original flooring. 

At the far end of the court is the entrance to the first of two hypostyle halls - standing guard on either side of the entrance are two identical granite statues of Horus, depicted as a giant falcon wearing the double crown of Egypt. The one on the left of the doorway is in perfect condition and is a popular spot for tourists wanting their photos taken - sometimes, there's even a short queue of visitors waiting their turn. And indeed, the statue is a majestic and powerful figure; the beautifully wrought face captures precisely the fierce gaze of the falcon. 

Moving now into the hypostyle hall, and after admiring the twelve columns (here the capitals are mixed 'ancient palmiform' and Ptolemaic floral') that support the ceiling, turn to your right and find the small room called a 'library.' This is so small that one wonders how it came to be called a 'library' but the explanation is that it held not books, but a card catalogue, which is inscribed on its walls. There is a similar small room to the left of the entrance which was used as a robing room by the priests. On the far wall, reliefs of Horus were hacked out in antiquity by people antagonistic to the old religion. The ceiling here has astronomical paintings symbolizing the sky. 

Beyond this hypostyle hall is a second and smaller hypostyle hall; this has on one side a door that leads outside to the temple well; on the other, a chamber where incense and perfume is said to have been prepared to be used in the temple rituals. Left and right are staircases that lead to the roof - during the New Year festival, the statue of the god was carried up to the roof via the left staircase to be revitalized by the sun - later it was carried down again, this time using the right hand staircase. 

Passing through a vestibule and transverse hall brings you to the most sacred part of the temple - the sanctuary. Here you see a large four-metre high 'naos-type' shrine made from a single block of granite. Of interest is the fact that the shrine was made not for any of the Ptolemaic kings who were responsible for building, it but for the last native Egyptian ruler Nectanebo II (360 - 343BCE).

In this once stood a golden statue of the god and in front of this, a block of stone thought to have been the altar. During the day, these innermost parts of the sanctuary were quite dark because the only light comes from the openings in the roof. Something you may not have noticed is the way the floor rises - from the court to the sanctuary, the floor level rises and the room height decreases; its said that the image of the god was placed where the floor and the skyline meet - this dark and secret space was entered only by the Pharaoh or the High Priest as his representative.

A number of small chapels surround the sanctuary - dedicated to other gods of Egypt with names like Min, Osiris, Ra, Hat-hor and Khonsu. The corridor surrounding the sanctuary contains several interesting rooms worth looking at; one of them is the 'barque chapel' where a reproduction of the god's processional barque is displayed mounted on a sled. Looking at it, you get some idea of the size of the vanished statue of the god because the barque is quite small. Also in the same vicinity, look out for a blue-coloured relief of the sky goddess Nut stretched across the ceiling.

Retracing your steps back into the court, look out for the gates on either side of the inner corners; these lead to an ambulatory which runs round the whole of the temple area. The walls here are devoted to depictions of Horus' victory over his uncle Seth, who'd challenged him for the throne of Egypt. A special play called 'The Festival of Victory,' was acted out every year at this temple and on the ambulatory walls, scenes from this are depicted - Seth is shown as a hippopotamus lurking underneath the boat of Horus; a number of reliefs show how he is systematically destroyed by Horus using ten harpoons. In the final relief, a hippopotamus cake, symbolic of Seth, is cut up and eaten to signify the final victory of Horus over Seth. 

As you leave the temple, take a look to your right. There is a small colonnaded structure called a Mammisi or birth house; as you might expect, scenes here depict the ritual birth of Harsomtus, the son of Horus and Hat-hor. (The idea of a mammisi is entirely Ptolemaic and can't be seen at any of the earlier Pharaonic temples.) 

I have visited this temple a number of times, always during the day, but the last visit was at night - this was a great experience! You might like to try this - I go off on my own for a few minutes, find a quiet spot and just listen; because the temple is so well preserved and the lighting so minimal, for some moments it feels as if one has gone back in time and that at any moment, the scent of incense will fill the air and the chanting of the priests will be heard - an eerie feeling! As author JA West says, '...it's a powerful and resonating place.'

To find out how you can visit this fascinating site, please contact Cecelia or Lindy on +27 11 678 4777 or +27 11 478 2884 or email us on: info@egyptandbeyond.co.za.

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