The Temple of Edfu - The outer Hypostyle Hall 1

edfu temple 12

**The rectangular Hypostyle Hall was built under

Ptolemy

VII (145-116 BC) and has two rows of six pillars supporting an intact roof.

The ceiling has astronomical paintings symbolizing the sky.

**The Hypostyle Hall is rectangular and 12 columns support its roof.

On both sides of the entrance to this hall stands a statue of Horus of Behdet, in the shape of a falcon.

the outer Hypostyle Hall.
**The facade of the first hypostyle hall has images honoring Horus and The

goddess Hathor

, and there is an immaculate ten foot tall colossi of Horus as the falcon god here
**As you enter the Great hall, you will begin to notice the use of light Even though the Temple was build over hundreds of years, it is very harmonious, and ebbs and flow of lighting was certainly purposeful, portraying a feeling of mystery
**Using a flashlight, you can examine two interesting rooms on the entrance wall: the Chamber of Consecrations to the left, where the King or priest dressed for rituals; and the Library on the right, where sacred texts were kept and reliefs depict Sheshat, the goddess of writing.

On the far (north) wall, reliefs of Horus have been destroyed by Christian iconoclasts.

The second Hypostyle Hall
**An entrance beyond the 1st Hypostyle Hall accesses the Inner Hypostyle Hall.

12 columns to the right support its roof, and on the left there are 2 rooms; one was used as a library that once contained a large number of manuscripts.

The other was used as a storeroom or magazine for the utensils and the tools of the Temple.
** the smaller hypostyle hall leads to a well called the Chamber of the Nile where the Priests obtained pure holy water.

This is a similar arrangement as found at Dendera.

The Festival Hall
The Festival Hall marks the beginning of the oldest part of the Temple, built 237-212 BC under

Ptolemy

III and IV.

During festivals, this hall was decorated with faience, flowers and herbs and scented with incense and myrrh.

Offerings of libations, fruit and sacrificial animals were brought in through the passageway on the right and nonperishable offerings were stored in a room to the left.

The room in the back left (northwest) corner is the Laboratory, where recipes for incense and unguents are inscribed on the walls.

Ahead through the passage in the east wall for access to the external corridor where the priests tallied tithes based on the nearby Nilometer.
***There are 2 consecutive vestibules; the outer one called the “hall of the offerings”, where the walls are decorated with various scenes representing the different deities and offering scenes of the different Ptolemaic Kings.

The inner vestibule was called the “rest house of the Gods”.

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	edfu temple Bas reliefs showing Egyptian gods thumb	edfu temple Bas reliefs with gods and pharaohs		edfu temple Bas relief depicting Horus
edfu temple Bas relief showingEgyptian gods		edfu temple Bas relief showing goddess Hathor the god Horus and a pharaoh	edfu temple Bas relief showing Horus
edfu temple Bas relief showing pharaoh	edfu temple birth house cc saulo		edfu temple birth house w pylon cc adrian barnes	edfu temple Hypostyle hall columns
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edfu temple The east wall with reliefs