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Egypt

Goldenmaggot
2005-09-06 18:47:52

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the reins of our horse, Mustafa. He was very well mannered and gentle. To get Mustafa to go fast you had to yell like a wild west cowboy, which I duly did. I think the three in the carriage at times were having a bit of a rough ride as I failed to notice the pot holes in the road!

When we got to the temple Medhat told us all about the Ptolemy period. The whole structure of the temple as we see it now took more than 180 years to complete, this was because of wars in and around the area at that time. Many generations took part in its construction, yet its architecture and decoration have harmony and unity. Although its walls are covered with the cartouches of many Ptolemies, it is a pure Egyptian temple in style and reliefs, since the architects, draftsmen and sculptors strictly adhered to old Egyptian traditions. The temple had only twenty seven years of full use when, in 30 B.C. Augustus eliminated the last relics of Ptolemaic sovereignty, and brought Egypt firmly under the rule of Rome.

There were 13 Ptolemy pharaohs, Cleopatra being the 13th and the last. The Ptolemaic temple of Horus, the solar falcon-god and protector of the pharaohs at Edfu is the most completely preserved in Egypt and is in near perfect condition with its great pylon, exterior walls, courts, halls and sanctuary all in place. Its walls are a textbook of mythology and geopolitics.

We went into the Sanctuary. No one but the high priest or the king was admitted to the Sanctuary. It is a separate building within the temple building. The rear wall of the sanctuary is the point from which the huge proportions of the temple can be seen. It now has a vista throuugh all the halls out to the pylons; this would have been impossible when the temple was in us, since each court was shut off from its neighbours by great doors overlaid with bronze and gold. Access to the successive courts was progressively restricted until at last none ...