Statue of the falcon god Horus at the Horus Temple in Edfu, Egypt


The Temple of Edfu is an ancient Egyptian temple located on the west bank of the Nile in the city of Edfu which was known in Greco-Roman times as Apollonopolis Magna, after the chief god Horus-Apollo. It is the second largest temple in Egypt after Karnak and one of the best preserved. The temple, dedicated to the falcon god Horus, was built in the Ptolemaic period between 237 and 57 BCE. The inscriptions on its walls provide important information on language, myth and religion during the Greco-Roman period in ancient Egypt. In particular, the Temple's inscribed building texts "provide details (both) of its construction, and also preserve information about the mythical interpretation of this and all other temples as the Island of Creation." There are also "important scenes and inscriptions of the Sacred Drama which related the age-old conflict between Horus and Seth." They are translated by the German Edfu-Project.


Size: 3493px × 5242px
Location: Temple of Edfu, Aswan Governorate, Nubia, Egypt, North Africa
Photo credit: © DE ROCKER / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: africa, african, ancient, animal, archaeology, archeology, architecture, art, artwork, attraction, behdet, bird, close-, deity, edfou, edfu, egypt, egyptian, egyptology, falcon, falcon-headed, geography, god, heritage, hieroglyphics, hieroglyphs, historical, history, horus, idfu, landmark, lanner, monument, mythology, nubian, peregrine, prey, ptolemaic, raptor, religion, sculpture, site, solar, statue, stone, temple, tourism, tourist, travel, unesco, visitor, war, world