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Edfu ( egy, bḥdt, ar, إدفو , ; also spelt Idfu, or in modern French as Edfou) is an Egyptian
city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...
, located on the west bank of the
Nile River The Nile, , Bohairic , lg, Kiira , Nobiin: Áman Dawū is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa and has historically been considered the longest rive ...
between Esna and Aswan, with a population of approximately sixty thousand people. Edfu is the site of the
Ptolemaic Ptolemaic is the adjective formed from the name Ptolemy, and may refer to: Pertaining to the Ptolemaic dynasty * Ptolemaic dynasty, the Macedonian Greek dynasty that ruled Egypt founded in 305 BC by Ptolemy I Soter * Ptolemaic Kingdom Pertaining ...
Temple of Horus and an ancient settlement, Tell Edfu. About south of Edfu are remains of ancient pyramids.


Ancient history


Ancient Tell Edfu

The remains of the ancient settlement of Edfu are situated about 50 m to the west of the Ptolemaic temple – to the left of the older temple pylon. This settlement is known as ''Wetjeset-hor'' and the Greek name was ''Apollinopolis Magna'' ( Ancient Greek: ''Apollinòpolis'', ''Απολλινόπολις''). According to ''
Notitia Dignitatum The ''Notitia Dignitatum'' (Latin for "The List of Offices") is a document of the late Roman Empire that details the administrative organization of the Western and the Eastern Roman Empire. It is unique as one of very few surviving documents of ...
'', part of Legio II ''Traiana Fortis'' was camped in ''Apollo superior'', which was the Roman name for the town. Although unassuming and unglamorous to the visiting tourists, Tell Edfu is a monument that contains evidence of more Egyptian history and is of more archaeological interest than the Ptolemaic temple. Although major parts of the settlement show severe signs of erosion, cut away or have been exposed during sebakh-digging, enough is preserved to gain information from as far back as the
Predynastic Period Prehistoric Egypt and Predynastic Egypt span the period from the earliest human settlement to the beginning of the Early Dynastic Period around 3100 BC, starting with the first Pharaoh, Narmer for some Egyptologists, Hor-Aha for others, with th ...
. The remains of the settlement (tell) provides an insight into the development of Edfu as a provincial town from the end of the Old Kingdom until the Byzantine period. The settlement at Edfu was the capital of the Second Upper Egypt nome, and played an important role within the region. The oldest part of the town which can be dated to the late Old Kingdom lies on the eastern part of the tell, not far from the Ptolemaic temple. There is evidence that the town flourished during the First Intermediate Period when it expanded extensively to the west. It is one of few settlements in southern Egypt that thrived when it seems that the north, especially around the delta, was in economic decline. Today, the ancient mound of Tell Edfu is preserved in some areas up to 20 m high and contains complete archaeological sequences of occupation dating to the Old Kingdom until the Graeco-Roman period, more than 3000 years of history, therefore providing ideal conditions to study the development of a provincial town. A central part of the site was explored by Henri Henne from the Institute for Egyptology in Lille in 1921 and 1922. His team identified the remains of a small sanctuary from the Late or Ptolemaic period, possibly the Osiris chapel built by Psamtek I. Henne was followed by Octave Guéraud in 1928 then by Maurice Alliot in 1931 who each explored and excavated different aspects of the settlement remains. The top layers of the settlement containing the Byzantine, Roman and Ptolemaic remains and the Old and Middle Kingdom cemetery at the southern western corner were recorded by a Franco-Polish expedition in 1937–39. The expedition was organized in cooperation between the University of Warsaw and the Institut français d’archéologie orientale (IFAO) in Cairo, and was directed by B. Bruyère, J. Manteuffel and Kazimierz Michałowski. Three elaborate reports on the archaeology of Tell Edfu were published. Unfortunately, since mid-1939 no new detailed discoveries or thorough research has been completed at the tell except for recent work done by Barry Kemp, from the University of Cambridge. Since 2001, the Tell Edfu project has been directed by Nadine Moeller (Oriental Institute, University of Chicago). The current work focuses on the eastern part of the site. So far the administrative centre of the ancient town has been discovered with remains of a columned hall dating to the late Middle Kingdom as well as a large granary courtyard that functioned as a grain reserve for this provincial capital. Latter dates to the Second Intermediate Period (17th Dynasty). At least seven large round silos have been excavated here with a diameter between 5.5 and 6.5 meters which makes them the largest ones so far discovered within an ancient Egyptian urban centre. No larger remains dating earlier than the 5th Dynasty have been found at Edfu. The ancient cemetery comprised
mastaba A mastaba (, or ), also mastabah, mastabat or pr- djt (meaning "house of stability", " house of eternity" or "eternal house" in Ancient Egyptian), is a type of ancient Egyptian tomb in the form of a flat-roofed, rectangular structure with inwar ...
s of the Old Kingdom as well as later tombs. Before the beginning of the New Kingdom, the necropolis was transferred to Hager Edfu, to the west and then in the Late period to the south at Nag’ el-Hassaya. The entire area was called Behedet. The god Horus was herein worshipped as Horus Behedet. One of these mastabas belonged to Isi, a local administrator, who, it was quoted was the "great chief of the Nome of Edfu" in the Sixth Dynasty. Isi lived during the reign of King Djedkare Isesi of the Fifth and into the reign of Pepi I of the Sixth Dynasties. He was an administrator, judge, chief of the royal archives and a "Great One among the Tens of the South" ef? Isi later became a living god and was so worshipped during the Middle Kingdom. As the Sixth Dynasty and the Old Kingdom drew to a close, local regional governors and administrative nobles took on a larger power in their areas, away from the royal central authority.


Temple of Horus

The town is known for the major
Ptolemaic Ptolemaic is the adjective formed from the name Ptolemy, and may refer to: Pertaining to the Ptolemaic dynasty * Ptolemaic dynasty, the Macedonian Greek dynasty that ruled Egypt founded in 305 BC by Ptolemy I Soter * Ptolemaic Kingdom Pertaining ...
temple, built between 237 BC and 57 BC, into 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 ...
. Of all the temple remains in Egypt, the Temple of
Horus Horus or Heru, Hor, Har in Ancient Egyptian, is one of the most significant ancient Egyptian deities who served many functions, most notably as god of kingship and the sky. He was worshipped from at least the late prehistoric Egypt until the P ...
at Edfu is the most completely preserved. Built from sandstone blocks, the huge Ptolemaic temple was constructed over the site of a smaller
New Kingdom New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...
temple, oriented east to west, facing towards the river. The later structure faces north to south and leaves the ruined remains of the older temple pylon to be seen on the east side of the first court.


Pyramid ruins

The remains of one of seven small provincial step pyramids built along the Nile Valley, is situated about 5 km south of Edfu near the west bank village of Naga el-Goneima. The structure was built from rough reddish sandstone and rises to a present height of 5.5 m. The pyramid has been loosely attributed to King
Huni Huni (original reading unknown) was an ancient Egyptian king and the last pharaoh of the Third Dynasty of Egypt during the Old Kingdom period. Following the Turin king list, he is commonly credited with a reign of 24 years, ending c. 2613  ...
of the
Third Dynasty The Third Dynasty of ancient Egypt (Dynasty III) is the first dynasty of the Old Kingdom. Other dynasties of the Old Kingdom include the Fourth, Fifth and Sixth. The capital during the period of the Old Kingdom was at Memphis. Overview Af ...
. The purpose of these pyramids is unknown. Further investigations and a detailed survey are carried out by the Oriental Institute, University of Chicago since 2010.


Apollonopolis Magna

In the Hellenistic period and under the Roman Empire, the city was known as Apollonopolis Magna or Apollinopolis Magna ( Greek: ,
Strabo Strabo''Strabo'' (meaning "squinty", as in strabismus) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. The father of Pompey was called "Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-sighted that he could see ...
xvii. p. 817; Agartharch. p. 22; Plin. v. 9. s. 11; Plut. ''Is. et Osir.'' 50; Aelian. ''Hist. An.'' x. 2; Ptol. iv. 5. § 70; , Steph. Byzant. ''s. v.''; , Hierocl. p. 732; It. Ant. p. 160, 174; Not. Imp. Orient. c. 143; Latin: Apollonos Superioris
rbs RBS may refer to: Organisations Banking * The Royal Bank of Scotland, a retail banking subsidiary of NatWest Group ** RBS International, the offshore banking arm of NatWest Group Education * Regent's Business School * Rotterdam Business School ...
. Ptolemy assigns Apollinopolis to the Hermonthite nome, but it was more commonly regarded as the capital town of the nome Apollopolites. Under the Roman emperors it was the headquarters of the Legio II Trajana. Its inhabitants were enemies of the crocodile and its worshippers. The ancient city derived its principal reputation from two temples, which are considered second only to the Temple of Dendera as specimens of the sacred structures of Egypt. The larger temple is in good preservation, and is being excavated. The smaller temple, sometimes, but improperly, called a Typhonium, is apparently an appendage of the former, and its sculptures represent the birth and education of the youthful deity,
Horus Horus or Heru, Hor, Har in Ancient Egyptian, is one of the most significant ancient Egyptian deities who served many functions, most notably as god of kingship and the sky. He was worshipped from at least the late prehistoric Egypt until the P ...
, whose parents Noum, or
Kneph Kneph is a motif in ancient Egyptian religious art, variously a winged egg, a globe surrounded by one or more serpents, or Amun in the form of a serpent called Kematef. Some Theosophical sources tried to syncretize this motif with the deity Khn ...
and
Athor Athor can refer to several things: * Alternative spelling of Hathor, an Egyptian goddess * ʾAthor, the Syriac name for Assyria * Asteroid 161 Athor 161 Athor is an M-type Main belt asteroid that was discovered by James Craig Watson on April ...
, were worshipped in the larger edifice. The principal temple is dedicated to Noum, whose symbol is the disc of the sun, supported by two asps and the extended wings of a vulture. Its sculptures represent (Rosellini, ''Monum. del Culto'', p. 240, tav. xxxviii.) the progress of the Sun, Phre-Hor-Hat, Lord of Heaven, moving in his bark (Bari) through the circle of the Hours. The local name of the district round Apollinopolis was ''Hat'', and Noum was styled Hor-hat-kah, or Horus, the tutelary genius of the land of Hat. This deity forms also at Apollinopolis a triad with the goddess Athor and Hor-Senet. The members of the triad are youthful gods, pointing their fingers towards their mouths, and before the decipherment of the
hieroglyphics Egyptian hieroglyphs (, ) were the formal writing system used in Ancient Egypt, used for writing the Egyptian language. Hieroglyphs combined logographic, syllabic and alphabetic elements, with some 1,000 distinct characters.There were about 1,00 ...
were regarded as figures of Harpocrates. The entrance into the larger temple of Apollinopolis is a gateway (πυλών) 50 feet high, flanked by two converging wings (πτερά) in the form of truncated pyramids, rising to . The wings contain ten stories, are pierced by round loop-holes for the admission of light, and probably served as chambers or dormitories for the priests and servitors of the temple. From the jambs of the door project two blocks of stone, which were intended, as Ddnon supposes, to support the heads of two colossal figures. This propylaeon leads into a large square, surrounded by a colonnade roofed with squared granite, and on the opposite side is a pronaos or portico, in height, and having a triple row of columns, six in each row, with variously and gracefully foliaged capitals. The temple is wide, and long from the entrance to the opposite end. Every part of the walls is covered with hieroglyphics, and the main court ascends gradually to the pronaos by broad steps. The whole area of the building was surrounded by a wall high, of great thickness. Like so many of the Egyptian temples, that of Apollinopolis was capable of being employed as a fortress. It stood about a third of a mile from the river. The sculptures, although carefully and indeed beautifully executed, are of the Ptolemaic era, the earliest portion of the temple having been erected by Ptolemy VI Philometor in 181 BC. Apollonopolis Magna became a Christian bishopric, a
suffragan A suffragan bishop is a type of bishop in some Christian denominations. In the Anglican Communion, a suffragan bishop is a bishop who is subordinate to a metropolitan bishop or diocesan bishop (bishop ordinary) and so is not normally jurisdictiona ...
of the metropolitan see of Ptolemais, the capital of the Roman province of Thebais Secunda. Papyrus documents record the names of perhaps five of its bishops. No longer a residential bishopric, Apollonopolis Magna is today listed by the Catholic Church as a titular see.''Annuario Pontificio 2013'' (Libreria Editrice Vaticana 2013 ), p. 835


Climate

Köppen-Geiger climate classification system classifies its climate as
hot desert A desert is a barren area of landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions are hostile for plant and animal life. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to denudation. About one ...
(BWh).


See also

* List of ancient Egyptian towns and cities * Edfu-Project


Notes


External links

* Tell Edfu Project (Oriental Institute): http://oi.uchicago.edu/research/projects/edfu/
Edfu images
{{Authority control Cities in ancient Egypt Archaeological sites in Egypt Populated places in Aswan Governorate Former populated places in Egypt Populated places on the Nile Cities in Egypt Buildings and structures completed in the 1st century BC Establishments in the Ptolemaic Kingdom