Granite falcon figure in Temple of Horus in Edfu the Nile Valley on the Left Bank. Upper Egypt between Esna and Aswan


The Temple of Edfu is an Egyptian temple located on the west bank of the Nile in Edfu, Upper Egypt. The city was known in the Hellenistic period in Koinē Greek: Ἀπόλλωνος πόλις and in Latin as Apollonopolis Magna, after the chief god Horus, who was identified as Apollo under the interpretatio graeca. It is one of the best preserved shrines in Egypt. The temple was built in the Ptolemaic Kingdom between 237 and 57 BC. The inscriptions on its walls provide important information on language, myth and religion during the Hellenistic period in 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: 2048px × 3072px
Location: Egypt, Upper Egypt, Edfu
Photo credit: © Juha Puikkonen / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No

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