Edfu - Horus Temple ; Dec 10th 2009

Glorious Carvings (Reliefs)

Day 3 started with a visit to the temple of Horus at Edfu. Edfu is a small town south of Luxor by about 60 km. The temple of Horus was constructed during the Ptolemic (Greek/Roman occupation) ages as can be seen by the columns of the temple. The reliefs or carvings were very etched into the walls and I had taken the interest some reading about some of these dead ancient gods which the Egyptians believed. Horus is the falcon god who was the son of Osiris and Isis. The Greeks and Romans who had no beliefs previously started to create temples according to the Egyptian beliefs. This all happened before the birth of Christ and Prophet Mohammad.


Ptolemic (Greek) influence visible as seen by the flowery columns

So Egypt was conquered first by the Persians about 1600 BC, and then by the Greeks (Alexander), Romans, Turks (Byzantine), Arabs (Mamluks) before finally getting their own independence on 28 Feb 1922. A glorious past is all Egypt had and nowadays,most Egyptians are resigned to their standing in the world, a magnificent past but a Third World poor country now with the standard of living no better than say Vietnam.


The huge Relief (carvings) on the First Pylon

As I approach the First Pylon, I am struck first by the size of the reliefs, stretching to about 50 feet high. Secondly, I am also struck by how deep the etchings in the brick are, meaning that they must be etched deep enough to withstand the wind and sand erosion for the many centuries. Many of these temples were below sealevel and some were reconstructed brick by huge brick back to their former glory. I will post another one about Abu Simbel and Ramses II temple to the Nubian peoples.



Temple of Horus with First Pylon

This temple is one of the best preserved in the whole of Egypt and many boatloads of tourists make a beeline everyday to visit this it. At night, the temple is all lit up and there is a sound and light show which further amplfies the structures. In the 1300 BC, the pharoah Ramses II used the stars to pinpoint the magnetic North and also to build his temple at Abu Simbel so much so that the entrance is exactly East facing only 2 times a year.




Horse ride to Horus Temple

Egyptian people are basically friendly but many of them seem to be trying to con tourists into buying cheap goods and stone carvings, T shirts, postcards from them. Even to take a photograph, they will badger me to pay a few pouns (U$ 1 = LE 5) or for the use of the common toilet they want to charge LE 1. This shows how pathetic the country is managed so much so that cheating is rampant amongst everbody else and there is no trust between any groups of people. Its a sad state of affairs given than this country had such a glorious past with brilliant architects and engineers but never progressed from 4000 years ago. This shows how great civilisations of the past can rise to such lofty heights and fall back into the abyss of poverty.