Edfu: Temple of Horus (10/24/2023)

Tuesday, October 24, 2023

Sunrise across the river from Edfu, Egypt

Today our included shore excursion included a ride
in a horse-drawn calèche/carriage with a folding
canopy to the Temple of Horus across town

We were taken in pairs, which means Viking
must have hired about 35 drivers

We kept being passed by other calèches!

A sweets shop?

Loofahs for sale

A donkey pair pulls a cart

A larger cart is pulled by a horse

The Temple of Horus (237-57 BCE) is one
of the best-preserved temples in Egypt 

The temple was once surrounded by a very thick mudbrick
wall, which protected it from the flooding of the Nile

The mammisi/birth house

The columns have palm capitals and are
topped with images of Bes/protector of children

Oh, my, a whole court of sleeping dogs

The First Pylon/monumental gate, with four vertical
grooves believed to have been used to anchor flags

Here again we see Ptolemy XII (or VIII?) holding his
enemies by the hair before striking them with his rod,
watched by Horus and Hathor with a double crowns

The gate is flanked by a pair of statues
of Horus as a falcon, with a figure between
his legs; one source identifies the figure
as Ptolemy Caesarion XV, the son of
the famous Cleopatra VII

The Ptolemy kings were of the Greek dynasty that ruled in Egypt from 305 to 30 BCE.

The Court of Offerings leads to the entrance
of the Outer Hypostyle Hall

Double pediment of the winged sun with a pair of cobras

Statue of Horus as a falcon wearing the
double crown of Upper and Lower Egypt

Column relief of Hathor holding the
ankh/key of life to Ptolemy III

Columns in the Outer Hypostyle Hall

The goddess Hathor leads the perhaps reluctant
Ptolemy III into the presence of Horus; Ptolemy
is going to begin the building of this temple
and wants the blessing of Horus?

Ptolemy III purifies the land with water, then
checks to see if the stones are alright with Horus 

The Sanctuary has a polished granite shrine that once held
the gold statue of Horus, and in front is a replica of
the sacred barque that carried the statue in festivals;
the original sacred barque is in Paris in the Louvre

It is believed that this Temple of Horus is built on the site
where Horus avenged the death of his father Osiris by
spearing and beheading his uncle Seth (who had killed
and dismembered Osiris, to be put together again by Isis)

(The story is really more compliated than told here! There are actually two Horuses.)

Free time!

The stairs to the roof had figures coming up
on the right and going down on the left;
however, there was a locked gate at the top

We searched for the temple library, the storage room
for robes and ritual implements, and the laboratory;
this is apparently the laboratory with recipes
to prepare perfumes and ointments

A relief in the Passage of Victory shows jackal-
and falcon-headed gods acting as bearers
for the sedan chair of the victor, Horus

Steps leading to the Nilometer,
behind a locked gate

Back at the mammisi/birth house, a guard pointed out the
symmetrical relief of Isis nursing Horus

Here we go in the calèche
(we had to find our same driver!)

Our driver with his calèche

Back on the Viking Aton, we began sailing back to Luxor,
watching two-masted Dahabiya boats that have
no engines, being towed upstream

Several Dahabiya boats sail downstream
accompanied by the motorized boats that tow them

A narrow passage guides us to the Esna Lock,
and the floating vendors take advantage

A young boy watches us pass at close range

A view of the Esna Dam (1908, renovated 1996), which is
actually called a barrage as it is meant to divert water
rather than to create a reservoir

The Esna Lock would lower us 8 m/26'

The vendors joined us in the lock

Unbidden, the vendors would throw up a plastic bag
with a galabeya or shawl, and expect someone to make
a purchase and throw down the money; however,
this bag landed on top of an awning

No one could reach the bag on the awning, but the passenger in that stateroom retracted the awning so the bag could be retrieved and thrown back to the vendor. I think the vendors did make one sale, because they were trying to get change back to the buyer.

Dinner: Fattoush/salad of mixed greens with tomatoes,
cucumbers, radish, carrots, and pomegranate seeds,
and crostini bread croutons

Koshary/a mix of rice, noodles, and lentils in
tomato sauce and topped with crispy fried onions

Tonight we had to settle our bill and pack!

Next: Coptic Cairo.