Contra Latopolis (sometime named Al Hilla or El-Hella) is an Egyptian temple. Temple_to_Isis_in_Contra_Latopolis

During the reign of

Cleopatra VII Cleopatra VII Philopator ( grc-gre, Κλεοπάτρα Φιλοπάτωρ}, "Cleopatra the father-beloved"; 69 BC10 August 30 BC) was Queen of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt from 51 to 30 BC, and its last active ruler.She was also a ...

, a temple to Isis was built opposite

Latopolis Esna ( ar, إسنا , egy, jwny.t or ; cop, or ''Snē'' from ''tꜣ-snt''; grc-koi, Λατόπολις ''Latópolis'' or (''Pólis Látōn'') or (''Lattōn''); Latin: ''Lato''), is a city of Egypt. It is located on the west bank of ...

, or Esne as it is now known, on the other side of the Nile from this settlement. The Roman people having constructed this, named the building Contra Latopolis. Very little has survived into the current age of this construction, all but a "massive portico upheld by two rows of four columns each" The temple built together with these mentioned structures includes, positioned on the overhanging eaves, a globe with wings outstretched to either side. The walls of the building were found covered with hieroglyphic writing. Of the names amongst them, the earliest of these showed Cleopatra Cocce (Cleopatra III), and her son

Ptolemy Soter Ptolemy I Soter (; gr, Πτολεμαῖος Σωτήρ, ''Ptolemaîos Sōtḗr'' "Ptolemy the Savior"; c. 367 BC – January 282 BC) was a Macedonian Greek general, historian and companion of Alexander the Great from the Kingdom of Macedo ...

, the most recently written showed the name of Emperor Commodus, the decorations were made between the reign of Cleopatra III and Soter II. The columns of a building in Contra Latopolis are said by Maspero to date from construction during the Ptolemic period, the columns of buildings from Contra Latopolis considered particularly distinct examples of a formal order of architecture where the god

Hathor Hathor ( egy, ḥwt-ḥr, lit=House of Horus, grc, Ἁθώρ , cop, ϩⲁⲑⲱⲣ, Meroitic: ) was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion who played a wide variety of roles. As a sky deity, she was the mother or consort of the sk ...

is placed as capitals upon the columns of temples.Maspero, Gaston Camille Charles
''Manual Of Egyptian Archaeology And Guide To The Study Of Antiquities In Egypt''
. (4th ed., 1895)Retrieved 22 September 2011

References

{{Reflist

External links

Al Hillah Map interactive
is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0
mapcarta.com'' The Notitia Dignitatum and the Geography of Egypt''
s.a. Notitia Dignitatum *Gaston Camille Charles Maspero
''Manual Of Egyptian Archaeology And Guide To The Study Of Antiquities In Egypt''Engraving of "Remains of the Temple at Latopolis in Upper Egypt" (1806/1810)
published in Cavendish Pelham, ''The world, or, The present state of the universe : being a general and complete collection of modern voyages and travels / selected, arranged and digested from the narratives of the latest and most authentic travellers and navigators''. Ancient Roman temples Archaeological sites in Egypt Egyptian temples Roman sites in Egypt

See also

References

External links