Ad-Dakka (

Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...

: الدكة, also el-Dakka,

Egyptian Egyptian describes something of, from, or related to Egypt. Egyptian or Egyptians may refer to: Nations and ethnic groups * Egyptians, a national group in North Africa ** Egyptian culture, a complex and stable culture with thousands of years of ...

: Pselqet,

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

: Pselchis) was a place in

Lower Nubia Lower Nubia is the northernmost part of Nubia, roughly contiguous with the modern Lake Nasser, which submerged the historical region in the 1960s with the construction of the Aswan High Dam. Many ancient Lower Nubian monuments, and all its modern p ...

. It is the site of the Greco-Roman Temple of Dakka, dedicated to

Thoth Thoth (; from grc-koi, Θώθ ''Thṓth'', borrowed from cop, Ⲑⲱⲟⲩⲧ ''Thōout'', Egyptian: ', the reflex of " eis like the Ibis") is an ancient Egyptian deity. In art, he was often depicted as a man with the head of an ibis or ...

, the god of wisdom in the

ancient Egyptian pantheon Ancient Egyptian deities are the gods and goddesses worshipped in ancient Egypt. The beliefs and rituals surrounding these gods formed the core of ancient Egyptian religion, which emerged sometime in prehistory. Deities represented natural fo ...

. The temple was initially a small one-room shrine or chapel, first begun in the 3rd century BC by a Meroitic king named

Arqamani Arqamani (also Arkamani or Ergamenes IITörök (2008), p. 393) was a Kushite King of Meroë dating from the late 3rd to early 2nd century BCE. Biography It is believed that Arqamani ruled in Meroë at the time of the Egyptian revolt of Horwen ...

(or Ergamenes II) in collaboration with

Ptolemy IV egy, Iwaennetjerwymenkhwy Setepptah Userkare Sekhemankhamun Clayton (2006) p. 208. , predecessor = Ptolemy III , successor = Ptolemy V , horus = ''ḥnw-ḳni sḫꜤi.n-sw-it.f'Khunuqeni sekhaensuitef'' The strong youth whose f ...

who added an antechamber and a gate structure.

Ptolemy IX Ptolemy IX Soter II Ptolemy IX also took the same title 'Soter' as Ptolemy I. In older references and in more recent references by the German historian Huss, Ptolemy IX may be numbered VIII. ( el, Πτολεμαῖος Σωτ� ...

"subsequently enlarged the temple by adding a

pronaos A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cult ...

with two rows of probably three columns."Arnold, Strudwick & Gardiner, p.65 During the Roman period, the Emperors

Augustus Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pri ...

and

Tiberius Tiberius Julius Caesar Augustus (; 16 November 42 BC – 16 March AD 37) was the second Roman emperor. He reigned from AD 14 until 37, succeeding his stepfather, the first Roman emperor Augustus. Tiberius was born in Rome in 42 BC. His father ...

further enlarged the structure with "the addition, at the rear, of a second sanctuary as well as inner and outer enclosure walls with a large pylon. The sanctuary contained a granite naos." The Temple of Dakka was transformed into a temple fortress by the Romans and surrounded by a stone wall, 270 by 444 metres long, with an entrance along the Nile. A large dromos leads to the pylon, which formed the entrance to the temple. Each of the pylon's towers is decorated in high relief and bears numerous graffiti from visitors, mostly in Greek but some in

Demotic Demotic may refer to: * Demotic Greek, the modern vernacular form of the Greek language * Demotic (Egyptian), an ancient Egyptian script and version of the language * Chữ Nôm, the demotic script for writing Vietnamese See also * * Demos (disa ...

and

Meroitic script The Meroitic script consists of two alphasyllabic scripts developed to write the Meroitic language at the beginning of the Meroitic Period (3rd century BC) of the Kingdom of Kush. The two scripts are Meroitic Cursive, derived from Demotic Eg ...

. There are reliefs of cows offered as gifts to the god Thoth carved into the naos of the Temple of Dakka. While the temple of Dakka was similar architecturally to the temple of

Wadi es-Sebua The temples of Wadi es-Sebua ( ar, وادى السبوع , translate=Valley of the Lions, so-called because of the sphinx-lined approach to the temple forecourts), is a pair of New Kingdom Egyptian temples, including one speos temple constructed ...

, it lacked a front courtyard of

sphinx A sphinx ( , grc, σφίγξ , Boeotian: , plural sphinxes or sphinges) is a mythical creature with the head of a human, the body of a lion, and the wings of a falcon. In Greek tradition, the sphinx has the head of a woman, the haunches of ...

es; however, its 12-metre-high pylon is in near perfect condition. A 55-metre-long processional approach ran from the temple's pylon to a cult terrace at the Nile.Arnold, Temples of the Last Pharaohs, p.244 During the Christian period of Egypt, the facade of the pronaos was converted for use into a church, and Christian paintings were still visible here in the 20th century before the temple was enveloped by the Nile floods. In the 19th century these paintings were described as rather crude and already quite damaged representations of Christian saints. The temple of Dakka collapsed in 1908–1909 and was subsequently rebuilt by

Alessandro Barsanti Alessandro Barsanti (1858–1917) was an Italian architect and Egyptologist who worked for the Egyptian Antiquities Service. He excavated throughout Egypt (most notably he 'discovered' the tomb of Akhenaten in 1891–1892). He was also in ...

Relocation

During the construction of the

Aswan dam The Aswan Dam, or more specifically since the 1960s, the Aswan High Dam, is one of the world's largest embankment dams, which was built across the Nile in Aswan, Egypt, between 1960 and 1970. Its significance largely eclipsed the previous Aswan L ...

in the 1960s, the temple was dismantled and moved to the site of

.Wilkinson, Richard H. (2000). ''The Complete Temples of Ancient Egypt''. Thames & Hudson. p. 219 At the time of its removal, some reused stone blocks from

Thutmose III Thutmose III (variously also spelt Tuthmosis or Thothmes), sometimes called Thutmose the Great, was the sixth pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty. Officially, Thutmose III ruled Egypt for almost 54 years and his reign is usually dated from 28 ...

Seti I Menmaatre Seti I (or Sethos I in Greek) was the second pharaoh of the Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt during the New Kingdom period, ruling c.1294 or 1290 BC to 1279 BC. He was the son of Ramesses I and Sitre, and the father of Ramesses II. The ...

and

Merneptah Merneptah or Merenptah (reigned July or August 1213 BC – May 2, 1203 BC) was the fourth pharaoh of the Nineteenth Dynasty of Ancient Egypt. He ruled Egypt for almost ten years, from late July or early August 1213 BC until his death on May 2, 1 ...

were discovered which originated from an earlier New Kingdom structure in or near Kubban. The temple's pylon is now separated from the remainder of the temple due to the missing enclosure walls of the open court. The

Temple of Maharraqa Temple of Al-Maharraqa is an ancient Egyptian Temple dedicated to Isis and Serapis. It was originally located in al-Maharraqa ( ar, المحرقة, DMG: Al-Maḥarraqa, Greek: Hierasykaminos), Lower Nubia, approximately south of Aswan on the south ...

was also moved and rebuilt at the

New Wadi es-Sebua The New Wadi es-Sabua is an archaeological site in Egypt. Created during the International Campaign to Save the Monuments of Nubia, it is located only 4 km west from the original site of Wadi es-Sebua, which today contains three ancient E ...

temple complex area.

Reliefs

Image:Temple relief of king Arqamani from Dakka by Dennis C. Jarvis.jpg, Relief depicting the Kushite king Arkamani presenting an offering to the gods File:Tempel Dakka Relief 01.jpg, Relief File:Tempel Dakka Seitenkammer 09.jpg, Relief

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Temple Of Dakka Egyptian temples International Campaign to Save the Monuments of Nubia