Temple of Khnum at Esna
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| Temple of Khnum at Esna |
The Temple of Khnum at Esna, or Isna,
was constructed about 50
Kilometres south of
ancient Thebes, better knew
today as Luxor. The temple was devoted to the
ram-headed deity Kum or Khnum, a female counterpart, the
goddess Neith, and their son, leaving in a triad
construction similar to Edfu.
It has 3
precept entrance doors and, as
strange as it sounds, with some Inca style construction
of unadorned design, as in earlier
Egyptian times at the
Koricancha temple in
Cuzco, Peru. Although there are
older sophistications, most of the temple was primitively built during the
(Greco - Roman) period, the Greek penchant for this place likely was to do with
the fact that Greeks concerned the Egyptian goddess Neith with their goddess
Athena, the goddess of wisdom.
Dedicated to Khnum, the creator god who fashioned human-kind
on his
potter’s wheel using
Nile clay, the
temple was began
by Ptolemy VI Philometor
(180-145 BC) and
built over the
ruins of previous temples. The hypostyle Hall, as it stands today, was
constructed by Romans. Parts of the
ornaments date from as late as the 3 rd
Century AD.
In the design
of this temple
there were great
astrological imports as Khnum in a way is also a god of the universe on
account that occasionally
he is was
as a ram
with 4 heads. The ram in hieroglyphs acts spirit and as
such each head is thought to represent the spirit of a several Egyptian god,
Ra, Shu, Seb and Osiris as the four elements: "fire, air, earth and
water", all of
which make the
easy universe or
Zodiac. Khnum was also
strongly tied to
Osiris as both
were river gods
that finally got the
Nile, these gods
were eventually merged and
worshiped in a
various way.
The columns at the entry represent lotus flowers, a mythological
symbolism of the birth of Ra, the Sun
god that supposedly
sprang from one
of these flowers
at the beginning
of the creation
of the universe. Likewise in the walls of this temple are
engraved a great number of calendars, and in the cap appears a
great Zodiac agency
with Egyptian and
Roman symbols.
Two pictures of the goddess Hathor at each face of the ceiling
look giving birth to the sun, and the 37 men navigating in a boat representing
the Dekans are depicted at her belly.
Inside of the Dekans (sky divisions) are the 12 Zodiacal symbols very similar
to how they are known today.
Temple of Horus at Edfu
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| Temple of Horus at Edfu |
Temple of Horus at Edfu, devoted to Horus, the falcon headed god, it was established during
the reigns of six Ptolemies. We have a great address of information about its
construction from reliefs on outer areas. It was begun in 237 BC by Ptolemy III
Euergetes I and was broken in 57 BC. Most of the work extended throughout this
period with a brief interlude of 20 years while there was unrest during the
point of Ptolemy IV and Ptolemy V Epiphanes.
This is not unique the best maintained ancient temple in Egypt, but the second biggest after Karnak. It was believed that the temple was constructed
on the site of the great battle between Horus and Seth. Hence, the current
temple was but the dying in a long serials of temples shape on this
positioning. 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 Ramses II which models in a 90 degree angle to the current
constructing.
The central building, which includes a great Hypostyle Hall , was uncovered by Mariette in
the 1860s. There are numerous reliefs, taking a depiction of the Feast of the
Beautiful Meeting, the annual reunion between Horus and his wife Hathor. The
reliefs are generally located on the inside of the first pylon, and spiritually
associate this temple with Hathor’s Temple
at the Dendera complex. During the 3rd month of summer, the priests at the
Dendera complex would direct the statue of Hathor on her barque (a ceremonial
barge) and would thus bring the statue to the Edfu Temple,
where it was considered that Horus and Hathor shared a connubial visit. Each
night, the god and goddess would recede to the mamissi, or mooring house. There
is still an entrance colonnade to the mamissi, and reliefs with significant
remaining color just out the main temple. These images portray the ritual of
the birth of Harsomtus, son of Horus and Hathor.
The power pylons of the main Temple
are about 118 ft high with typical settings of the pharaoh in battle with his
enemies. Within the pylons is the colonnaded courtyard with distinctive, pared
columns, which leads into the great hypostyle hall. But 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 dedications recording contributions of land
which were credibly removed from demotic documents. There are also proud images
depicting the frustration of Seth by Horus. There was an annual ritual
addressed the known as the Triumph of Horus (10 harpoons) which ended in the
slaying of a hippo, the symbol of Seth.
The frontage of the first hypostyle hall has images observing
Horus and Hathor, and there is an immaculate ten foot tall giants of Horus as
the falcon god here (a according colossi is was finished). As you enter the
great hall, you will begin to notice the use of light Even though the temple
was figure over hundreds of years, it is very harmonious, and ebbs and flow of
lighting was certainly pregnant, portraying a looks of mystery. Just alone the
hall are 2 close rooms, a robing room on the west and a library to the east
where the priest would obtain the religious clubs of the day. Within this hall
are scenes of offer including the temple foundation ceremonies.
Beyond the great hypostyle hall is a second, little hypostyle hall
which takes to a well called the Chamber of the Nile
where the Priests held pure sacred water. This is a similar arrangement as
discovered at Dendera. On the west side of the room are doorways that lead to a
small research lab 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 put in.
Beyond the second hypostyle hall is the offering hall, followed by
the vestibule and last 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 centimeter tall would have
occupied on the naos. This statue would have been handled for by the priests in
a human manner, being washed, treated, anointed, fed and encouraged.
Kom Ombo Temple
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| Kom Ombo Temple |
Kom Ombo Temple is the give temple is magnificently located on elevated rock, but the
Nile has more lately changed its course and
many of the temple’s outer edifices have been clean away or
seriously denuded. These
include the so-called
mammisi (birth house), which was begun during the reign of Ptolemy VIII
Evergetes II (170–163 BC and again 143–116 BC), and parts of the mudbrick
envelopment wall. The construction of the modern quay where tour boats moor has
cut the risk of further erosion of the river bank. Past wrong has been
conglomerate by the recent earthquake.
Despite these problems, the temple of Kom Ombo
still continues several distinctive features. Front among these is its base
plan, which reveals that the temple is really divided into two halves down its
central axis. Such a “double temple” is rare in Egyptian architecture. The
north half of the temple is gave to the god Harwer (“Horus the Elder”) and his
associate Tasentnefert (“the beautiful sister”), who is placed with the
goddess Tefnut, and
their offspring, the
child god, Panebtawy
(“the lord of
the two lands”). Panebtawy shares
some of the features of Sobek, to whom the southern half of the temple is
dedicated. Sobek, the crocodile god, is likewise a member of a triad of deities
comprising his consort,
Hathor, and their
offspring, Khonsu. A
careful examination of the temple dedications and their location reveals
that primacy is agreed to Harwer. This is particularly plain in the arrangement
of the hieroglyphs on the outer hypostyle
hall’s double architrave,
beneath which are
twin entrances leading
to each parallel half of the
temple. Passing through the outer, central and inner vestibules, one eventually
comes to the sanctuary, divided in half by a hollow central wall, perhaps to
give approach to the now broken roof from which extended observations could be
made. Some scholars maintain, however, that this passage was intended to hide a
priest who would be the voice of an oracle in the name of either deity. Within
each sanctuary is a black granite
stone, incorrectly called
an altar. These
were originally the
stands on which rested the sacred
barks of Harwer and Sobek, which were used in processions. A series of
underground crypts, of versatile function but perhaps used to store worthy
ritual objects, and a suite of symmetrically arranged rooms are discovered at
the rear of the temple.
The temple itself is included on three faces by a corridor formed
by extending the outer walls of
the first hypostyle
hall. This is
again another unusual
hold of the temple’s
architectural design, and
one which is
without parallel in
other temples of Ptolemaic and
Roman date.
Other structures include a small chapel dedicated exclusively to
the god Sobek in the northwest of the
temple precinct, bounded
by the enclosure
wall. To the
west of this structure is a curious pit, cut into the
living rock and drawn with blocks of stone. This have has sometimes been named
as a water tank, but some scholars, mentioning the analogy of the precinct of
the Apis Bull at Memphis,
have indicated that it was a devoted precinct where a keep crocodile,
thematerialization of the god Sobek, was housed. In the southeast is the
lateral gateway of the temple’s enclosure wall. This gateway was built by
Ptolemy XII (80–57 BC and once again 55 BC) and is now the great entry to the
temple. In the vicinity of this gateway and almost edging the enclosure wall is
a small chapel to the goddess Hathor. The chapel has been regenerate into a
museum which houses a choice of mummified crocodiles located in the vicinity of
the temple.
Some of the temple reliefs are extraordinarily crafted and reveal
a sensitivity to spatial concerns that is indebted to advances already abused
in the reliefs of the temple of Seti I (19th Dynasty) at Abydos. One significant example is a scene on
the west wall of the inside hypostyle hall where Ptolemy VIII Evergetes II is
showed with his wife, Cleopatra II, and his daughter, Cleopatra III. The
queens, each bearing the characteristically tightly right sheaths
and holding floral
scepters, form the
left hand side
of a harmonious composition. The contours
of their floral
crowns are harmoniously
balanced by the arrangement of their cartouches
introductory their heads. Next comes Ptolemy VIII Evergetes II, who takes in
his close hand a scepter shaped like the hieroglyph w3s and continues his far
hand toward Harwer in a gesture of adoration. Ptolemy here wears a festive,
light apparel which reveals the contours of his legs beneath. Delicate as these
refers are, they should not unknown the fact that the imbrications of the
properties held by Harwer in the far right of the composition thinks the
arrangement of the properties held by Seti I and the deities he adores at
Abydos. The three notched palm fronds held by the near hand of Harwer device in
space and go beneath his spread far arm, which offers the scimitar to Ptolemy
VIII Evergetes II.
This contemporaries of
space is a
masterful induction of pharaonic artistic tenets.
Temple of Hathor at Dendera
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| Temple of Hathor, Dendera |
The great temple,
devoted to Hathor,
dates to the reign of King Khufu (Cheops, 2551–2528B.C.E.), and other from the Eleventh
Dynasty (2134–1991 B.C.E.)
was discovered near a sacred lake
at Dendereh. The main temple was fashioned out of a stone platform on a sand
base with a
mud-brick enclosure wall.
A propylon entrance leads
to a transverse
hypostyle hall with
24 columns. A second
hall has six
columns and a short
ramp. Also included in the temple are the Hall of Offerings, an inner lobby,
and the Hall of the Cycle of the Gods. Several chapels are also in the complex,
the Per-Ur, dedicated to the start of the new year; Per-Nu, honoring the
journey of the goddess to Edfu; Per-Neser, devoted to the goddess as a lioness.
Below, there are 32 treasure crypts. The essential temple backups at Dendereh
also mention Pepi I (r. 2289–2255 B.C.E.), Tuthmosis III (r. 1479–1425 B.C.E.),
and Ptolemy XII Auletes (r. 88–58, 55–51 B.C.E.). This structure also had a
“Dendereh Zodiac” relief and a sanitarium where Egyptians were reportedly cured
of illness through Hathor’s intercessions.
Hathor temple
inscriptions were studied
by Dümichen (1865–75),
Mariette (circa 1879), and
Heinrich Brugsch (circa 1880); systematic publication of the inscriptions was
undertaken by Émile Chassinat, observed by François Daumas (1934–87) and is
being kept by Sylvie
Cauville. The mammisi
were studied and
published by François Daumas (1959). The publication of
the temple of Isis
is in advance and will be surveyed by that of the north gate and the
repositories situated outside the inclosure wall (i.e. the temple
of Ptolemy VI
Philopater
and the gateway
of Horus). Architectural
studies are being undertaken by Zignani of the Hathor temple and by
Boutros of the basilica.
A structure whose axis
is adjusted with
the heliacal rising
of the star
Sirius was made during the reign
of Ramses II, so out the building of Ptolemy XII by
great 1,200 years.
Astronomical research has
demonstrated that the
famous Dendera zodiac relief
was conceived during the
summer of 50
BC; it reveals that Egyptian priests had a more advanced
knowledge of astronomy than had antecedently been known. The ribbon of the
Osiris chapels took place over 3 years, from 50–48 BC, and their startup took
place on December 28, 47 BC (the 26 th day of Khoiak), the day of a zenithal
wide moon, a alignment that takes direct only once every 1,480 years.
Temple of Hathor does not take issue appreciably from the project of the Edfu
temple, the most complete cultic
memorial of the
Graeco-Roman period. This
plan lies of a
sanctuary, chapels and great liturgical halls alongside cult rooms to store the
equipment and offerings required
for the daily
ritual or various
festivals. The architectural originality of
the temple of
Hathor domiciliate in
the majestic crypts
contrived in the thickness of the walls and on three
levels. The underground crypts helped as a sort of foundation for
the temple. Inside
these secret spaces
were stored about
160 statues, which ranged from
22.5 to 210.0 centimeter in height. The best statues, made of wood, were sunk
in an most inacessible crypt.
Open Air Museum in Luxor
Off to the left (north) of the first solicit of the Amun Temple
Enclosure is Karnak’s open-air museum. The
term "museum" and the fact that there is so much else to see in
Karnak means that most visitors skim this collecting of stones, statues and
shrines, but it is unquestionably worth a look. The good chapels include the
White Chapel of Sesostris I, one of the oldest and most stunning monuments in Karnak, which has wonderful Middle Kingdom reliefs; the
Red Chapel of Hatshepsut, its red quartzite blocks reassembled in 2000; and the
Alabaster Chapel of Amenhotep I. The museum also contains a collection of
statuary found throughout the temple complex.
Luxor Sound and Light
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| Karnak sound and light |
Luxor Sound and Light in Karnak show spotlights the dramatic history of
ancient Thebes.
The show narrates the achievements of some great Pharaohs, with poetic
descriptions of the ancient treasures. As visitors walk complete the complex,
the pharaohs arise to
separate the story of their
interesting lives, as haunting music mysteriously flows through
this ancient city. Ancient and poetic voices tell the visitors about the
birth of Karnak temple and
the heroic achievements
of the pharaohs
and the god
Amun. It is an
enchanting and magic experience to
hear to sound outcomes and
gaze at the magnificent
ruins white during the well-presented show.
El-Moalla
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| El Mo'alla |
El-Moalla is a necropolis southern of Thebes, dating to the First IntermediatePeriod (2134–2040 B.C.E.). Two of the tombs at el-Moalla are famous for their
ornaments and paintings. These
are the tombs
of Ankhtify and Sobekhotep.
El-Moalla was a necropolis doing the area known as Tod. The Egyptians visited
it Hefat.
Elkab
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| El Kab, Temple of Amenhotep III |
Elkab, also named Nekheb, is a site called
Nekheb by the Egyptians
and one of the nation’s earliest villages, dating to c. 6000 B.C.E. Elkab is on
the east bank of the Nile, 20 miles south
of Eana. The site
is across the
river from Hierakonpolis and is
related to nearby Nekhen (modern Kom
el-Ahmar). Predynastic palaces,
garrisoned ramparts, and other
interior defences attest to the years of the site, which
was devoted to
the goddess Nekhebet, the patroness of Upper Egypt.
Elkab’s citizens rose
against Ahmose (r. 1550–1525 B.C.E.) when he started the
Eighteenth Dynasty, and he dotted the siege of the Hyksos capital of Avaris to
put down the rebellion.
The nomarchs of
the area were energetic and
independent. Their rock-cut
graves are in the
northern section of
the city and
display their vivacious
access to life
and death. King Tuthmosis III (r.1479–1425 B.C.E.) erected
the first chapel
to Nekhebet, broken by
his heir Amenhotep II. The temple of Nekhebet
had a series of lower temples involved as well as a devoted lake and a
necropolis. A temple observances the god
Thoth was started by
Ramses II (r. 1290–1224
B.C.E.). The present
Nekhebet enshrine dates
to the Late Period (712–332 B.C.E.). In the valley
of Elkab shrines of Nubian gods were
discovered, and in
far wadis a shrine
to a deity
made Shesmetet and a
temple of Hathor and Nekhebet
stand in ruins. The rock-cut tombs of
’Ahmose-Pen Nekhebet, ’Ahmose, son of Ebana, and Paheri are also on the
site. Elkab likewise contains El-Hammam, called “the Bath,” which was seen to the reign of RamsesII. His stela is still evident there. Amenhotep III (r. 1391–1353 B.C.E.) also
erected a chapel there for the devoted Bark of Nekhebet.
Armant (Erment)
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| Cleopatra’s temple at Erment |
Armant or Erment was a site south of Thebes,
called Iun-Mut, “The Pillar of Mut,” or Iun-Montu, “the Pillar of Montu,” in
Egyptian; Hermonthis in Greek; also Armant in some lists. Erment was once the
capital of the fourth nome of Upper Egypt but was replaced by Thebes as early as the Middle Kingdom(2040–1640 B.C.E.).
The god Montu had a cult
center at Erment,
associated with the
sacred bull Buchis. Remains of an Eleventh
Dynasty (2040–1991 B.C.E.) palace
were discovered on the place. A temple from the Eighteenth Dynasty, built by
Queen-Pharaoh Hatshepsut (r. 1473–1458 B.C.E.) and reconstructed by TuthmosisIII (r.1479–1425 B.C.E.), was
also observed in
Erment. The Bucheum, the bull
necropolis, is also on the site.
A better temple at Erment dates to the Middle Kingdom with later
add-on. Nectanebo II (r. 363–343 B.C.E.)
started a similar shrine that was completed by the Ptolemies (304–30 B.C.E.).
Cleopatra VII (r. 51–30 B.C.E.) and Ptolemy XV Caesarion (r. 44–30 B.C.E.)
constructed a Mammisi, or birth house there, with a dedicated lake.
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