Exploring the Magnificent Temple of Horus at Edfu | Egypt Travel Blog: Day 5 (Part 39) 04D19

Egypt Travel Blog: 10 DAYS Egypt Explorer - Felucca Cruise & Red Sea

The Temple of Edfu | The Best-Preserved Ancient Egyptian Sanctuary

After leaving the tent café we drove for a while, cutting through local markets in Edfu. Once we reached the temple complex, I saw lots of street vendors before entering the temple. The vendors were loud, trying to sell their merchandise to tourists, so we had to maneuver to pass through.

The Temple of Horus at Edfu was built during the Ptolemaic Kingdom between 237 BC and 57 BC and is possibly the best preserved of the Ancient Egyptian structures. This is due to the fact that it was buried under almost 40 feet (12 metres) of desert sand for almost 200 years. The silt from the Nile probably helped to conserve to its near-perfect form.

The Temple of Horus was dedicated to Horus, the falcon-headed sky god. Horus was considered the protector of the pharaohs.

The temple of Edfu complex was huge. The first thing you see is the grand temple entrance gate. You will see stone reliefs on both sides of the symmetrical gate praising the Ptolemy King Neos Dionysos and stone sentinels of the falcon-headed god Horus watching over the Great Pylon.

Once you pass the gate, you face a colossal courtyard surrounded by 32 towering columns on three sides. The whole temple is like a book opening up in front of you chapter by chapter.

The columns and stone walls are richly decorated with floral and palm capitals, reliefs picturing the gods Horus and his wife Hathor.

The inner temples have 12 columns topped with elaborate floral capitals. After that, there is a doorway leading to the Hypostyle Hall. The roof of this hall is supported by 12 columns and there are two small chambers leading to the inner passage around the temple.

There were also two antechambers and then the Room of God. This is where the gold cult statue of Horus once stood upon a granite shrine. The wooden barque that used to carry the statue during festivals at present day is a replica of the original. It kind of looked like a canoe made of gold. The original wooden barque is now on display at the Louvre Museum in Paris.

From here, we would go to the Lotus Hotel in Luxor.