The temple of Horus, the best preserved temple in Egypt, on the classic plan.
Where
The west bank, about 100 km south of Luxor
When
Begun in 237 BC under Ptolemy III; finished in 57 BC
God
Horus of Behdet, with Hathor of Dendera and their son
Famous for
Its complete roof and pylon; texts that describe the temple itself
Who built what
The Ptolemies, Greek kings of Egypt, built temples in the old Egyptian style to win the support of the priests. Edfu took 180 years to finish. It follows the standard plan more cleanly than any other: a pylon about 36 m high, an open court with colonnades, two hypostyle halls, an offering hall, and the sanctuary, with corridors and chapels around it and a stone wall enclosing all.
Its walls are covered with texts: rituals, festival calendars, the story of Horus defeating Seth, and building inscriptions giving the dates and measurements of the temple. Ptolemaic temples use thousands of signs and playful spellings that classical Middle Egyptian did not.
What survives
Because it was buried in sand and later had houses built over it, the temple came through almost complete, roof and all. Auguste Mariette cleared it in the 1860s. Soot on some ceilings dates from later centuries, when people lived in and around the temple.
Two granite falcons of Horus guard the entrance. In front of the temple stands its birth house (mammisi).
Edfu is the clearest example of the standard plan: pylon, court, hypostyle halls and sanctuary.
2 short, well-known texts from Edfu, each with its transliteration (the Egyptian sounds in Latin letters) and a translation. Tap Sign by sign to see what each sign is and how it is read. Royal names are drawn in their cartouches.
Horus, the great god, lord of the sky
Transliteration
ḥr nṯr ꜥꜣ nb pt
Translation
“Horus, the great god, lord of the sky”
Where: Over doorways and beside the god's figure in scene after scene, usually as "Horus of Behdet, great god, lord of the sky".
Behdet was the Egyptian name of Edfu; the winged sun disk over the doorways is Horus of Behdet. The falcon stands for the god's name, and the word for god is the cloth on a pole, the sign of a shrine.
Simplified: The word bḥdtj "of Behdet" that usually follows Horus's name is left out: its sign is not yet in the site's font.
Sign by sign
Reading: The standard epithet; the Wikipedia articles "Temple of Edfu" and "Horus".
Ptolemy, the builders' name
Transliteration
ptwlmys
Translation
“Ptolemy”
Where: In the cartouches of the kings who make offerings in the reliefs: several Ptolemies, from Ptolemy III to Ptolemy XII, worked on the temple.
The Greek name Ptolemaios spelled with sound signs. Which Ptolemy is meant depends on the epithets that follow in the cartouche.
Simplified: Shown in its plain form, without the epithets.
Sign by sign
Reading: The standard reading; the Wikipedia article "Temple of Edfu".
Dates follow Shaw, ed., The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt (2000); before 664 BC they are approximate. Readings are the standard ones in the sources named under each inscription; translations are Teddy Rook Book's own. The hieroglyphs are drawn in the site's font, TRB Hieroglyphs, so their shapes are simplified; where an inscription's arrangement or signs can't be shown faithfully, the card says so.