Edfu: The Temple of Horus

We travelled from the Cruise ship to Edfu Temple by horse and carriage

Coming back from our tour, I was the one sitting beside the driver. Egyptian drivers need to contend with other vehicles, donkey carts, horse and carriage, tuk-tuks, motorbikes, buses, camels and pedestrians. There is NO WAY I would ever drive on Egyptian roads, especially in Cairo. Our Memphis Tours drivers were exceptional. 

School children

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  Birthing room to the left and outside the main facade. The goddess Hathor is seen in relief on the crowns of the columns. The mud brick walls surrounding the temple may have helped against the flood waters of the Nile. 

  
  

  

  Facade of one of the best preserved temples in Egypt. Horus is depicted as the winged sun disk over the entrance, as well as his traditional form as hawk represented by the two huge granite statues on either side of the entrance. 

  
  

  

  Standing in the entrance looking up, you can see where the cedar gates once hung. They were inlaid with bronze and gold. 

  
  

  

  Anterior of the facade, in the open courtyard surrounded by 32 columns on three sides. 

  
  

  

  Front colonnade at the end of the open court

  
  

  

  Here Horus is wearing the dual crown of Egypt

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   e Horus is wearing the dual crown of Egypt

  

  Six Roman-Graeco columns (with 12 others) hold up the ceiling decorated with scenes of the zodiac

  
  
  
  

  

  Second  colonnade Hall or Hyperstyle Hall. The blackened ceiling is believed to be the result of arson. Some artifacts were considered to be pagan and were destroyed by fire after the temple fell into disuse by the ancient Egyptians. 

  

  Holy of Holies or the Sanctuary.  Highly polished shrine shaped out of one piece of gray granite, and the sacred ship which carried  the gods. Only the high priest and the king himself were allowed in this room. 

  

  Western wall depicts the triumph of Horus over his evil uncle Set. 

  
  

  

  Eastern wall just outside the temple is decorated with scenes of religious rituals
  

  
  

  Tired of Temples yet? Hold on. When we go back by horse and carriage to our cruise ship, the St. George, we will be sailing on to Kom Ombo this afternoon. There we will see another Temple and some mummified crocodiles. In the meantime, we will have lunch, a shower, a nap, and high tea on the sun deck of the ship. See you later.