Temple of Edfu

Temple of Edfu
The main entrance of Edfu Temple showing the first pylon
Monument information
Type	Temple
Location	Egypt
Nome	Wetjes-Hor
Hieroglyphic name	(Bḥd.t)
Deity	Horus (primary), Hathor, Harsomtus
Historical information
Period	Graeco-Roman Period
Dynasty	Ptolemaic dynasty
Construction start date	August 23, 237 BC
Completion date	57 BC
Architectural description
Construction material	Sandstone
Height	36 meters
Width	3 76 meters
Length	79 meters

The Temple of Edfu is an Egyptian temple located on the west bank of the Nile in Edfu, Upper Egypt. The city was known in the Hellenistic period in Koinē Greek: Ἀπόλλωνος πόλις and in Latin as Apollonopolis Magna, after the chief god Horus, who was identified as Apollo under the interpretatio graeca.^[1] It is one of the best preserved shrines in Egypt. The temple was built in the Ptolemaic Kingdom between 237 and 57 BC. The inscriptions on its walls provide important information on language, myth and religion during the Hellenistic period in Egypt. In particular, the Temple's inscribed building texts "provide details [both] of its construction, and also preserve information about the mythical interpretation of this and all other temples as the Island of Creation."^[2] There are also "important scenes and inscriptions of the Sacred Drama which related the age-old conflict between Horus and Seth."^[2] They are translated by the Edfu-Project.