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Temple of Edfu

Temple of Edfu

Photo: Patrick.reb · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Location
Edfu, Egypt
Client / Owner
Ptolemy III Euergetes
Year
Completed 237 BC
Access
Tickets required
Typology
Spiritual
Style
—

The Temple of Edfu, on the west bank of the Nile, is dedicated mainly to Horus. Construction began on August 23, 237 BC, under Ptolemy III Euergetes, and ended in 57 BC under Ptolemy XII Auletes. The building is sandstone, and the infobox gives a height of 118 feet (36 m) and a length of 259 feet (79 m).

The layout runs from a pillared hall through two transverse halls to a barque sanctuary surrounded by nine chapels. Inscriptions on the walls record the temple's construction and its meaning as the Island of Creation, and they show the conflict between Horus and Seth.

Sand and Nile silt buried it up to 39 feet (12 m) deep. A French expedition identified it in 1798, and Auguste Mariette began clearing it in 1860. The article calls it one of the best preserved shrines in Egypt, and a lighting system installed in 2006 allows night visits.

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