Main article: Egypt
Kom el-Ahmar (Nehen, Hieraconpol)
Main article: Nehen (Hieraconpol)
100 km south of Luxor and 26 km from Esna, on the western bank of the Nile, was the very ancient city of Nehen, modern Kom el-Ahmar ("Red Mound").
El Qab (Neheb)
Main article: Neheb (El Qab)
Esne (Ta Sni, Latopolis)
On the west bank of the Nile, there was a city now called Esne. In Egyptian, the place was called Inuet or Ta-Sni - hence the Coptic Dream and the Arabic Esne, the Greek Latopolis.
Here, already in the time of Thutmose, ІІІ worshiped, as in Elephantine, the god Khnum. Hnum, who had long been known as the main god in this territory, was considered the god of fertility; his incarnation was the oval.
At the same time, Hnum was considered as a demiurge who created humanity from clay on a potter's wheel; it was believed that in the same way he created the newborn pharaoh every time.
As the wife of Hnum, the goddess of earthly fertility Nebtu (or Heaven, which means "lady of the district") appeared, and as a son - the god Heck. Very little is known about these two deities.
The local goddess Menhet was also worshipped here.
When and how the cult of Nate was established in Esna, the goddess Saisa (Lower Egypt) is unknown, but she pushed back the goddess Nebta and began to be considered the wife of Khnum. Her name was part of the theophoric names of two queens of Tinis time - Meritneit and Hetepneit. The Greeks, in particular Herodotus, identified Egyptian Nate with Greek Athena. Both Delta and Sais had theogony and cosmogony, led by Nate.
Having settled in Esna, the goddess Nate did not lose her two-domed appearance - a characteristic feature that she differed in Saisa, where she was considered both a god and a goddess - the creator of the universe. In Saisa, Nate was not associated with any god, and this is logical. Having appeared in Esna and becoming the wife of the god Hnum, she, contrary to logic, retained her double-headed character and the role of the supreme demiurge. The divine pair Hnum - Nate embodied a clear contradiction, however, in the religious consciousness of the Egyptians who inhabited Esne, this fully fit, as evidenced by the relevant texts.
An Egyptian temple of Roman time rises in Esne. The texts of this temple date back to the І- ІI centuries C.E. and, therefore, largely reflect the views of this period.
Edfu (Dzeba, Behdet)
Edfu (Arab, dr.-egip. Dzeba, or Behdet; Greek "Apollonos polis megale") is a city in Upper Egypt, on the western bank of the Nile, between Gebel Silsila and Thebes.
The cult of the solar deity Choir of Behdet and Winged Disk as the sacred coat of arms of the united Egypt
The cult of the Choir in Edfa went back to the time of the Ancient Kingdom, and it dates back to the era before the unification of Egypt. The Edfu choir was considered the husband of the goddess Hathor (from Dendera), and their son was Horsmataui ("The choir is the unifier of the Two Lands").
The Behdetsky Choir is a solar deity - Winged Disk (sun). In later times, his image became the universal emblem of divinity and higher holiness, it is available at the entrance to all Egyptian temples. However, the Winged Disk is no later an invention of Egyptian mythology and art, it is already found during the V dynasty with the following accompanying words: "Good God, Lord of Both Lands." As you know, this is the usual epithet of any pharaoh. Thus, the Winged Disk is both the deity of the sun, the Behdet Choir, and the generalized prototype of the pharaoh. A. Gardiner shares the opinion of K. Zete that the Winged Disk is a kind of sacred coat of arms symbolizing a single Egypt, and the wings of the disk are Upper and Lower Egypt.
In Edfu there is a large temple built during the time of the Lagids - the pearl of Egyptian architecture of the Greco-Roman time. It is dedicated to the god Hor Behdetsky.
The temple was erected on the site of an older temple. Numerous texts covering its walls tell of the construction of the temple, which began under Ptolemy І Everget in 237 BC. The temple was opened during the reign of Ptolemy X Alexander (107-88 BC) and was completely completed under Ptolemy KhІІІ Neos Dionysia in 47 BC.
The plan of the temple of this type in the main features is close to the plan of a residential building of the time of the Middle and especially the New Kingdom, which is natural, since the temple was considered the dwelling of God.
The layout was carried out according to a certain ancient model, which was easily achievable, since manuscripts with descriptions of shrines were available in temple archives. Senusert І, wanting to erect a temple to the god Ra in Iuna (Heliopolis), demanded that the priest be guided by the instructions of such a "divine scroll" when laying a new sanctuary. Among the manuscripts of temple libraries was the "Book of the foundation of the temples of the first nine (ennead)," which was allegedly written by the subsequently deified famous architect and sage of the Ancient Kingdom Imhotep. This book, according to legend, was carried to heaven "when the gods left the earth," but then thrown from the sky by Imhotep and found north of Memphis.
The inscription on the Ptolemaic church in Edfu indicates that the general plan of the temple building was made precisely according to the instructions of this book.
This temple was preserved better than all other temples of ancient Egypt, moreover, it can be said without exaggeration that by the 20th century it had reached us almost intact.
The incarnation of the Choir in Edfu was the falcon. Near the temple there was a poultry house for falcons. Priests in the temple played a ritual drama on certain days containing episodes from the Choir's struggle against their enemies.
Mysteries based on the myth of Choir Behdet
The myth of the Choir of Behdet, captured on the walls of the Edfu temple, is a religious drama, the content of which boils down to the following. The Behdet choir in the form of the Winged Disc (sun) accompanies the great god-king Ra-Harahti in Nubia, who leads an countless army. The Behdet Choir has seen the enemies of the god, and Ra-Harahti allows him to destroy them. Enemies turn into crocodiles and hippos trying to attack Ra-Harahti, but the Behdet Choir pursues and smashes them. The leader of the enemies, the god Seth, is destroyed. The Chorus, the son of Isis, joins the Choir of Behdet, and together they pursue fleeing enemies all the way to the sea.
Thus, the victory of Ra-Harakhti is mainly the victory of both Choirs - the Choir of Behdet and the Choir, the son of Isis. The Behdet Choir performs in myth as a solar deity.
As noted by [1], from a satellite and defender of the solar god, the god Seth turned into the leader of his enemies. In Greco-Roman times, Seth was seen as a devil or Satan, the patron saint of all things foreign and an enemy of the Egyptian gods. At the same time, the essence of the myth remained the same: the eternal struggle of light and goodness with evil, permeating and memorial texts. At first, this struggle was thought of as a clash of two opposite, mutually exclusive physical principles: light and heat with darkness and cold, but gradually it was transferred to the spiritual and moral sphere, becoming a struggle between good and evil - the moral principle began to pave its way in the thick of ritual-magical views.
The second part of the myth is a mystery committed in the temple. Moreover, the main character is named here by the Choir of Behdetsky, the image of which merges with the Choir, the son of Isis. Pharaoh and Isis, the mother of the Choir, the god Toth, the priest-reader, etc. participate in the dialogues. Both parts of the myth are illustrated in reliefs. The mystery was played at the temple annually in the first half of January.
The Chorus of Edfu Mystery was the last ancient Egyptian drama known to science. Works of secular drama in ancient Egypt are not known.
As far as can be judged from sources, theatrical works were played in front of temples on the esplanade decorating the temple or in the temple courtyard, in the same way as in the Middle Ages, when mysteries were played in the squares in front of the cathedrals.
The actors were mostly priests. But from a very interesting stele of the beginning of the ІІ millennium BC. e., dedicated to the god Horus by the Egyptian Emheb, we learn that the latter was an itinerant actor.
Herodotus (ІІ, 63) reports interesting information about the mysteries in which the masses participated: "And in Papremis (the localization of this city has not been established. - M. Korostovtsev) make sacrifices and perform priesthood in the same way as in other places. Whenever the sun tilts to the west, only a few priests clap near the statue of God, while most with wooden batons become at the entrance to the sanctuary. Against them are a crowd of more than a thousand pilgrims who fulfill a vow (also with wooden batons). The statue of the God in a wooden gilded ark in the form of a temple is transferred at night on the eve of the holiday to a new sacred rest. Several priests who remain at the statue of the god attract an ark with a statue of the god on a four-wheeled wagon. Other priests standing in front of the gates on the eve of the temple do not miss them. Then the pilgrims, who have made a vow, intercede for God and beat the priests, who [in turn] rebuff them. A violent club fight ensues in which they smash each other's heads, and many even, I think, die of wounds. The Egyptians, however, argue that there are no deaths. " Before us is undoubtedly a description of the mystery with the participation of the masses in it.
In later times, the Behdet Choir was revered as one of the most important gods in the country.
The temple of the Choir was excavated by O. Mariett, as the structure was covered with various kinds of deposits. Today, the Edfu Temple is not a picturesque ruin, but a miraculously preserved temple of antiquity. From the upper platform of its pylon, where two stairs of 242 steps with 14 platforms lead, an enchanting landscape opens, watered with unflappable calm. For 2026, access to the top was closed.
Gebel Silsila
Accustomed to the regularity of the Nile spills for thousands of years, the Egyptians explained both the spills and their absence by the manifestation of the divine will of a mighty and great river. Neil, on whom the well-being of the whole country depended, naturally, could not help but be in the eyes of people a local deity worshiped him and made sacrifices in different places. This faith manifested itself especially strongly in Gebel Silsila.
The Nile here flows along a ravine in the cliffs through which the great river has broken its way. During the New Kingdom, chapels were carved in Gebel Silsila and hymns were inscribed to the god of the river - Hapi.
Kom-Ombo
In the area currently known as Kom-Ombo, on the eastern slope of the hill, above the bend of the river, the Egyptian temple of Roman time is quite well preserved. It was a temple of two deities who dominated it on equal terms - the crocodile god Sebek and Harur (Choir the Veliky is one of the hypostases of the god Choir).
It has been established that there was a temple here before dating back to the XVІ dynasty, but whether it was dedicated to two gods is unknown. How to explain the combination of Sebek and Harur is difficult to say, but the fact is obvious. Each of these gods was endowed with a "family" by the priests of Kom-Ombo.
Aswan
The city of Aswan is the regional center of the governorate of the same name (province).
Population - 401 thousand people
Aswan City has a population of 401,890 as of July 1, 2023.
Stone quarries
Aswan quarries are located along the Nile near the town of Aswan. There are several famous places here: Shellal, consisting of northern and southern quarries on an area of about 20 km2 on the western shore, as well as the islands of Elephantine and Seheil. Some of the notable monuments found at the site are:
- The unfinished obelisk is still in place, in the northern quarry
- Incomplete partially processed obelisk base discovered in 2005
- Granite sarcophagus in burial chambers of Third Dynasty pharaoh Josera in Saqqara and Fourth Dynasty pharaoh Snofru in Dahshur
- The King's Grand Gallery and Chamber in the Khufu Pyramid, as well as his granite block sarcophagus
- The sarcophagus and the lower layer of the outer cladding of the pyramid of Hefren in Giza, as well as the statue of Hefren, all made of granite
- The burial chamber and the lower layers of the outer lining of the Menkaur pyramid in Giza are made of granite
- Cleopatra Needles (exported from Alexandria to London and New York).
Elephantine Island (Abu)
At the first threshold of the Nile is the island of Elephantine, which is part of the city of Aswan. The ancient Egyptians called the island Yeba or Abu, meaning "elephant," hence its Greek name.
The island stretches from north to south for 1200 m, its maximum width is about 400 m.
In ancient times, the city developed actively - several important trade routes passed through the region. Water and land routes connected Egypt and Nubia, and the people of Abu controlled the trade in ivory, gold, ebony. A significant role in this process was played by the skill of local residents who had experience in conducting merchant ships through the Nile rapids. Another factor contributing to the development of trade was the security of land trade routes.
At the southern end of the island during the time of Ancient Egypt, there was a temple of the god Hnum, depicted as a man with a ram's head. Hnum iskoni was considered a lord and demiurge in the territory adjacent to the first threshold.
The wife of the god Hnum was the goddess Satet (Greek Satys), and the goddess Anuket was a daughter. Both of these goddesses, whom Egyptian iconography portrayed as anthropomorphic, appear to have been revered iskoni in territories located south of Egypt, hence deities "borrowed" by Egyptians from southern neighbors. The goddess Anuket was considered the mistress of Sehel, one of the islands of the archipelago of the first Nile threshold, which is located just south of Elephantine.
Satet Temple
Satet is the deification of the Nile spill. She was depicted as a woman with antelope horns, wearing the crown of Upper Egypt, who holds an ankh in her hand (due to the fact that the Nile spills were considered "life bringing").
The earliest temple of Satet (the exact pronunciation of the ancient Egyptian language is often unknown, since vowel sounds began to be recorded much later) was built in about 3200 BC. e. and was nothing more than a cult niche located between three large natural granite boulders. This earliest temple was very small, it contained a sanctuary approximately 2 m × 2 m in size, built of mud brick. In front of the sanctuary, on the eastern side, there were several houses made of mud brick.
The temple was rebuilt several times during the first dynasties. Now in front of it was a courtyard measuring about 5 m × 5 m, surrounded by an open gallery. A vault for offerings was discovered under the floor of the sanctuary. They were dedicated to the goddess for several hundred years during the Old Kingdom period by both royal individuals and private individuals and consisted mainly of small faience figures of people and animals.
Senusert I (d. 1926 BC) from the XII dynasty replaced the previous building with a completely new temple and courtyard. While all previous buildings had the same layout and were made exclusively of mud brick, the new temple was entirely built of limestone.
By this time, the level of the temple already exceeded the rocky niche of the Old Kingdom. However, the main sanctuary was built directly above the old one, which allowed the tradition to be preserved. The temple of Senusert I was completely decorated, but only a few fragments of decor have survived to this day, including the remains of the king's long inscription.
At the same time, a separate temple on the island was dedicated to the god Hnum (see below).
During the New Kingdom, the Satet temple was rebuilt under Queen Hatshepsut (1507-1458 BC) at the beginning of the 18th dynasty and further expanded by its successor Thutmose II. The temple was a massive rectangular building measuring about 15.9 m × 9.52 m, surrounded by a path along the entire perimeter measuring 20.10 m × 13.52 m, on both sides of which there were 7 × 10 columns. The sanctuary of the new temple was located directly above the sanctuary of earlier periods.
There is evidence of the continuation of construction work during the 26th dynasty (664-525 BC). e.), but almost nothing remains of this temple. Several blocks of gates have survived, which were once about 7.35 m high and led to a brick fence, the latter possibly once belonging to the temple.
Shortly before the Persian conquest of Egypt, Pharaoh Amasis II (570-526 BC) added a colonnade or canopy to the temple. Six limestone columns were found.
A completely new temple was built under Ptolemy VI (180-145 BC). It was a rectangular building again. Behind, on the western side, was the main sanctuary, in front of it - a wide hall, and in front of it - two more smaller halls. A separate pavilion was erected in front of the new temple. The sanctuary was no longer built on the site of an Ancient Kingdom-era sanctuary. This place seems to have been forgotten and its significance forgotten.
Ptolemy VIII (182-116 BC) eventually added a pronaos with two rows of four columns to the temple.
One of the two best preserved nilometers is associated with the Satet temple.
The first beginnings of moral principles in determining the afterlife of the deceased against the background of the dominance of magic and ritual
Moral principles played the most minimal role in determining the afterlife of the deceased, but their presence during the V and VІ dynasties cannot be ignored. As proof, M.A. Korostovtsev cites several excerpts from texts inscribed in the tombs of nobles of the Old Kingdom era.
Henku, the nomarch of one of the nomes of Upper Egypt (now Deir el-Gebrai), in his inscription says that he "gave bread to everyone hungry in noma and clothing to the naked."
The famous Elephantine nomarch Harhuf, a contemporary of Pharaoh Merenre, known for his expeditions up the Nile, south of the first threshold, says of himself: "I am excellent... we love our father and praise our mother, constantly love all our brothers. I gave bread to the hungry and clothing to the naked... I was saying good things and repeating what I wanted. I never said anything bad about anyone in power, [for] I wanted to feel good about the god of the great. I have never dealt with the affairs of two brothers in such a way as to deprive my son of his father's property. "
No matter how true these statements are, one cannot but admit that they irrefutably testify to the existence in the era of the Old Kingdom of well-established ideas about the ideal moral appearance of a dignitary.
French Egyptologist Fr. At home, he quite correctly noted that any society is assessed not only because of what it actually represents, but also because of what it seeks. Very curious in this regard is the recognition of Harhuf: "I wanted me to be good with the god of the great." Consequently, Harhuf and other Egyptians of that time had already begun to think that the deity was not indifferent to the behavior of the mortal on earth.
In the "appeal to the living" in various tombs, the deceased repeatedly threatens to sue violators of the ritual before the "great god." Thus, violation of not ethical standards, but ritual is still the basis for bringing the offender to justice before the court of the "god of the great." For the first time such statements are found in the mastabs of the end of the ІV dynasty, the time of Pharaoh Menkaur (Mikerin). However, questions of morality still accompany the main problem of a person's attitude to ritual, as can be seen from the inscription of Harkhuf.
Hnuma Temple
Hnuma Temple was the sacred and administrative center of the island.
In the IV century BC e. Under Pharaoh Nectaneb II, a new temple of Khnum was built on the island. At a later time, it was expanded, granite gates were added to it. Unfortunately, only the remains of the foundation have survived from this magnificent structure. The most impressive surviving element is the monumental granite gate of the Nectaneb II era.
In 1906, the French archaeologist Clermont-Hanno excavated on the island of Elephantine. He discovered the cemetery of the sacred rams of the temple of the god Hnum, dating back to Greco-Roman time. Mummies of sacred rams have been found here.
On Abu, many finds have been discovered that are on display in the Aswan Museum, located on the same island.
Fragments of a rare calendar known as the "Elephantine Calendar of Things," which dates from the reign of Thutmose III during the Eighteenth Dynasty, have been discovered here. Fragments of it are kept in the Aswan Museum.
The name "things" may be related to the listing of festive offerings, dates, or ritual actions.
The calendar is closely related to local deities. It contains information on the feast of the god Hnum (the main god Abu), the New Year's Feast ("Discovery of the Year"), and the festivals of Amun-Ra.
The holidays were tied to natural and agricultural cycles, especially to the spills of the Nile, which was personified by the goddess Satet (Satis) - the spouse of Khnum.
The festivals mentioned in the calendar most likely glorified the Elephantine triad - Khnuma, Satet and their daughter Anuket.
In addition to the ruins on the island, you can see the sanctuary of the deified nomarch Hekaib.
Until 1822, the island housed relatively well-preserved temples of Thutmose III and Amenhotep III. In 1822, they were destroyed during the campaign of Egyptian ruler Muhammad Ali to conquer Sudan.
Jewish mercenaries to defend Egypt's southern border
Elephantine papyri and ostracones are archives of legal documents and letters written in imperial Aramaic around the 5th century BC. e. These papyri testify to the presence on Abu (Elephantine) of a community of Jewish mercenaries and their families, starting from the 7th century BC. e. Mercenaries guarded the border between Egypt and Nubia in the south.
After the destruction of Jerusalem in 587 B.C.E., some Jewish refugees traveled south and, having made what can be called an "outcome on the contrary," settled on Abu. They kept their own temple (Yahweh House) where animal sacrifices were made.
One ostracon from Abu, written in Aramaic, says: "I bless you in the name of Yahweh and Khnum." In other words, the faithful Jews revered here not only the "one" Jewish god Yahweh, but also the ruler of Elephantine, the search for the Egyptian god Khnum.
In 410 B.C.E., the Jewish temple, the House of Yahweh, was burned down by a Persian military commander thanks to the assistance of the priests of the temple of Khnum. There is speculation that the priests did so because of the Jewish ritual of sacrificial sheep practiced especially during their feast of Passover.
Agilquia - temples of the ancient Phil, transferred from the flooded islands of Bige and Filae
The ancient Philae consisted of two islands on the Nile at the First Threshold: Philae Island and neighboring Bigae Island.
Filet was constantly flooded after the construction of the old Aswan dam (1902).
.jpg)
Filet was completely flooded after the construction with the support of the USSR of the High-rise Aswan Dam (1960-1970). As a result, the original island is almost completely under the waters of the Nasser reservoir. Only its highest point is visible on the surface. Bigé Island is also completely submerged. However, the main temples of the islands were saved by transfer to the island of Agilquia, where they can still be seen today.
Cults of Osiris and Isis
In Greco-Roman times, the cult of the god Osiris and the goddess Isis flourished on two islands of this archipelago. When exactly their cult got here and established itself here is unknown. On the island of Biga, known in Greco-Roman time as Abaton, the ashes of the god Osiris allegedly rested. Access to Bige was extremely difficult, especially for foreigners.
On the nearby island of Filae, a temple was erected in honor of the wife of Osiris, the goddess of Isis, and their son, the god Horpakrat (meaning "Choir Child"). Every ten days, the goddess "visited" the grave of her late husband (her idol was taken there), where a funeral libation with milk was performed.
On Fila, along with the temple of the goddess Isis, there was a temple in honor of the goddess Hathor; the service in it was accompanied by night singing and dancing.
Finally, here, on Fila, a small temple was erected in honor of the healing god Imhotep, whom the Greeks called Asclepius.
Later cults continued to coexist peacefully with older ones.
In Greco-Roman times, the cult of the goddess Isis in Egypt was very popular. The same should be said of the temple of the goddess Isis on the island of Filae. It was visited not only by Egyptians, but also by crowds of Greek pilgrims who left numerous graffiti on the walls of the temple.
A little later, already during the time of Christianity, the temple of the goddess Isis on Phil enjoyed exceptional attention and veneration among the Blemmian tribe, who inhabited territories south of the first threshold during this period. The goddess Isis was considered by the Blemmians to be the mother goddess, the highest deity. Her cult on the island of Filet was liquidated administratively under the Byzantine emperor Justinian in 535 AD. It was the last hotbed of paganism in the territory of Egypt. M.A. Korostovtsev[2].
The temple of Isis on Fila is one of the pearls of Egyptian architecture of the Greco-Roman time. In ancient times, it was the object of pilgrimage and, after being transferred to the island of Agilquia, continues to attract numerous tourists.
Calabsha Island
Temple of Amun from the city of Debod, moved to Madrid
The archaeological site known as Debod (today under the waters of the Nile) was previously a small town, called Debod, on the banks of the Nile River, near the first threshold in Lower Nubia, very close to where the river crosses the tropic of Cancer.
Some evidence indicates the existence of a small chapel here dating from the Middle Kingdom. Unfortunately, it is not known which deity the Egyptians worshipped here at the time. It has been speculated that it may have been Hnum and his "consort" Satis - the gods of the First Threshold of the Nile. This place was to be periodically visited by pharaoh expeditions engaged in mining in the nearby wadi. There are almost no archaeological sites left of this phase. Chief among these is a rectangular sandstone stele preserved at the Egyptian Museum in Berlin, dating from the reign of Amenemhat II; it was found by Lepsius in Debod and describes an official expedition undertaken to the area of the Wadi al-Khudi amethyst mines for ore mining. Amethyst mines were located in the Eastern Desert, more than 145 km from Debod. It would have been the earliest document of the pharaohs we know to have been found in Debod.
In the time of the Ramessids, the Egyptization of Kush (Nubia) takes place. It was then that the first known stone building, consecrated by Network II, is being erected in Deboda. The temple consisted of a small sanctuary and an access pylon. Again, the explorers do not know which deity he was dedicated to, but from the Ramessid necropolis adjacent to this small temple, a stele appears to be emanating that first mentions "Amon of Debod." Some blocks of the Ramessid edict were reused in the Greco-Roman temple.
The partially preserved temple of Debod, today located in Madrid, dates back to the beginning of the 2nd century BC, when the Nubian king Meroe Adihalamani (Tabrico) built a small building for the cults of Amun and Isis.
The temple arises during the so-called "Theban branch." At this time, for twenty years (205-185 BC), all of Upper Egypt, with its capital at Thebes, would be independent of the Alexandrian power. Thebaida as an independent state had its own pharaohs. These internal differences in Egypt allowed the Cushites to advance towards Filae, which explains their presence also in Kalabsha, Dhaka and Deboda.
The building, decorated with reliefs, is one of the few monuments on which references to this ruler have been preserved. Other monuments of Adihalamani are his stele from the island of Filae (fragmented and reused in the expansion of the temple of Isis conducted by Ptolemy V) and his tomb in Meroe.
Subsequently, various rulers of the Ptolemaic dynasty built new premises around the original core to give it a look close to the present one.
After the Roman Empire's capture of Egypt, emperors Augustus, Tiberius, and possibly Hadrian completed the building's construction and decoration.
With the closure of Isis shrines in Filae in the sixth century, the temple ceased to be a place of pagan worship and was abandoned.
The Deboda Temple in 1970 was donated to Spain as a token of gratitude for its contribution to the salvation of the monuments of Nubia before filling the Aswan hydroelectric power station reservoir. For more information on this UNESCO program, see below.
Currently, the temple is located in Madrid, in Park del West.
The temple was located in. A little further north, on the island of Filet, was the famous temple of the goddess Isis. Debod's temple was indirectly part of this sanctuary, although its cult was dedicated to the god Amun of Debod. Theologically related to Phylae from the first century BC, it also had special connections to other temples in the area. The region bordering Meroe was the subject of a dispute between Egyptian and Meroite rulers until the first century BC, when the Roman emperor Augustus finally established the boundary.
Abu Simbel
Saving temples from Abu Simbel to Elephantine before filling Aswan Dam reservoir
The operation to save the monuments of Nubia in the 1960s remains the largest campaign to preserve cultural heritage. This grandiose feat of engineering was accomplished thanks to the solidarity of the international community led by UNESCO at the request of the Egyptian government. Monuments of Nubia, including two temples of Abu Simbel, were threatened with complete flooding after rising water levels in the Aswan hydroelectric power station (Lake Nasser) reservoir.
After the UNESCO Executive Board examined the report of international experts on the possibility of saving the treasures of Nubia, on March 8, 1960, a call for financial and technical assistance to peace was announced.
After UNESCO appealed to the project, more than 40 countries from 5 continents joined the project, providing their financial or technical assistance. More than 20 temples and other architectural treasures were salvaged by step-by-step dismantling and reconstruction at new sites along Nasser Lake.
Since nothing like this had been attempted before, the entire campaign to save Nubia was to be carried out in stages, requiring imagination and innovation as each new problem arose.
There were many difficulties. Archaeologists working around the clock to excavate in extreme climatic conditions had to improvise. Before solutions to engineering problems were found, many large-scale projects to save the monuments had to be studied.
Work to save the Abu Simbel temples began in 1964, when two temples were sawed into approximately 1,042 massive blocks and reassembled 200 meters northwest at an altitude of approximately 65 meters above the original position.
Each temple has its own separate concrete dome covered with sand and stones to simulate the natural rocks in which the temples were originally carved.
The work was completed in 1968, and the relocated temples of Abu Simbel were officially reopened on September 22 of that year.
The campaign lasted twenty years, but by the time of its completion, about forty archaeological expeditions from five continents had conducted scientific research on the sites; twenty-two monumental complexes were dismantled and moved to new locations;
The list of saved temples from the banks of the Nile indicates the scale of the operation and its success. Temples such as Abu Simbel, File, Dabbod, Kalabsha, Wadi Essebua, Dendur, Amada, Ellessia, Beit el Wali, Dhaka, Maharraka, Derr, Buhen and others were saved. The work was practically completed by the time the water level in Nasser Lake rose and the main monuments were saved.
Some of these temples were donated to countries involved in the rescue operation.
- The Temple of Isis in Dabuda (3rd century BC) was donated to the Spanish government and is now in Madrid.
- The northern temple of Taffe (Roman period) is now in the Reicks Museum in Leiden, Holland.
- Dundour Temple was erected by Augustus, dismantled in 1963 and donated to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, United States.
- The chapel of El Lessia, which belonged to Thutmose III, was donated to Italy in 1966 and is now located in the Church of Moses in Turin.
Due to its historical significance, Nubian monuments from Abu Simbel to Filet were included in the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1979.
Notes
| The site content is translated by machine translation software powered by PROMT. The machine-translated articles are not always perfect and may contain errors in vocabulary, syntax or grammar. Read original article If you find inaccuracies or errors in the results of machine translation, please write to editor@tadviser.ru. We will make every effort to correct them as soon as possible. |