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Today I present to you the Temple of Edfu, concentrating most of today’s images on the sanctuary, with a few of the courtyard between the sanctuary and the pylon. One exception to that is the photograph below of the nearly ubiquitous souvenir vendor stalls that seem to proliferate outside most entrances/exits to Egypt’s antiquity sites:

Below is a diagram of the Temple of Edfu. In the middle of the sanctuary is a feature labeled naos, which I’ll explain in a moment:

Naos is the egyptian hieroglyph representing the word “shrine”. As one might suspect from its location at the center of the sanctuary, this particular naos (shrine) is a significant feature of some importance. And indeed it is, as this shrine predates the entire temple (started 237 BC; completed 57 BC). It is a relic from a shrine dating back to Nectanebo II, the last of the native Ancient Egyptian rulers before the Ptolemaic (Greek) Kingdom. It would be 1952 before a native Egyptian, Gamal Abdel Nasser, would once again rule Egypt. Here, in the inner sanctuary, is the shrine of Nectanebo II:

So much for today’s history lesson. Here is today’s photo gallery/slide show of the Temple of Edfu’s sanctuary, including some of the chapels and chambers, and the courtyard that separates the sanctuary and the pylon:

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The pylon edifice as you approach the Temple of Edfu from the south is stunning in both scale and detail. This enormous structure stands 118 feet/36 meters tall and measures nearly 250 feet/76 meters in width. This temple took a phenomenal 180 years to complete, having begun in 237 BC and only finished in 57 BC. Even the Great Pyramid only took about 26 years to build! And that was started 2,300 years earlier! Step inside the pylon on your way to the courtyard and look up for this view:

While researching the Temple of Edfu for this week’s pieces, I stumbled upon a very good article: The Temple of Horus at Edfu (5 Amazing Things You Can’t Miss). On Wednesday I’ll spend more time on the courtyard between the pylon and the inner sanctuary beyond the Great and Second Hypostyle Halls.

As for today, the emphasis is on the hypostyle halls and the sanctuary, which I now present with today’s photo gallery/slide show. By the way, contrary to recent Ancient Alien Conspiracy Theory, the Egyptian king in the upper left image is not connecting to a wifi signal. That is the hieroglyphic representation of the papyrus plant. Sorry if I burst your bubble.

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