Ptolemy VI Philometor, who reigned from 180 to 145 BC, began the temple at the start of his reign. Later Ptolemies extended it, most notably Ptolemy XIII, who built the inner and outer hypostyle halls. The introduction dates construction to 180 to 47 BC. A New Kingdom temple stood on the site earlier, but little of it remains.
It is a double temple, with courts, halls and sanctuaries duplicated for two sets of deities and arranged symmetrically along the main axis. The southern half is dedicated to Sobek, and the northern half to Haroeris. A rear-wall scene is said to probably show surgical instruments. The article gives no dimensions or materials.
The Nile, earthquakes and later builders who reused its stone damaged it, and Copts, who used it as a church, defaced some reliefs. Jacques de Morgan cleared debris and restored the southern part in 1893.
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