Temple of Horus, Edfu (set site)

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  • Created by: ktommo
  • Created on: 16-05-17 18:48
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  • Temple of Horus at Edfu
    • Introduction
      • One of the best preserved temples in Egypt
      • It contains several elements of a traditional Egyptian temple, including a temenos wall.
        • A temenos wall denotes that the land within the wall is sacred or holy.
          • Dedicated to a god or deity
          • Used as liminal boundaries
    • Paragraph 1
      • Temple contains a mammisi or 'birth house'.
        • A small chapel attached to a larger temple, associated with the birth of the god worshipped at the temple, in this case Horus.
      • The Pylon gateways into the temple are also well preserved and show some very well preserved smiting scenes, with the goddess Ma'at, who represents truth, justice and order.
        • This ties in with the idea of good and evil presented at the temple, which is also shown in scenes of Horus and Seth at the site.
          • These tell the story of the contendings of Horus and Seth, a story between good and evil, and show Seth represented as a hippo, a very much feared animal in Ancient Egypt due to its violent nature.
    • Paragraph 2
      • The temple contains all the traditional features of an Egyptian temple like hypostyle and peristyle halls, as well as the 'holy of holies' or sanctuary, which would contain the shrine holding the statue of Horus.
      • This statue would be removed during the major yearly festival which took place at the temple, the sacred marriage of Horus and Hathor.
      • During this festival, the statue of Hathor would journey from her temple at Dendera to Edfu, where the two statues would take part in a marriage 'ceremony' before spending the night together and returning to their respective temples.
      • This would be a time of great celebration both for the priests at both temples and the people of Egypt in the surrounding area.
      • There are scenes in the temple showing the gods making the journey in their sacred barque, meaning that this may have been the only time in the year that the public would have been able to see them, meaning it was a very significant period.
    • Conclusion
      • It's a classic Hellenistic cult temple and focus for worship of the falcon god Horus.
      • Famous for its reliefs showing the contendings of Horus and Seth with symbolism of 'good and evil' with Seth portrayed as a small hippopotamus.
      • It was a place for offerings and a focus of attention of worshippers on statues of Horus
      • The site was also the location for the festival of the divine marriage of Horus and Hathor.

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