subject: Remote Holiday Location - The Temple Of Edfu [print this page] As the holiday vacation season speedily draws near, it's time to put on your thinking caps and discover the next great place where you're going to travel. Sure, you could go to the same traditional mundane vacation places that everybody else goes to... like another trip to Disneyland, yay! But why not pick something a little out of the ordinary, a little off the beaten path. Why not pick a vacation location that you can chatter about for years and years to come, a place none of your acquaintances have ever gone?
I highly recommend the Temple of Edfu.
You may never have heard of the Temple of Edfu, and that's okay because not many people today have. It is situated on the west bank of the River Nile around Aswan and Esna. Of course those two destinations might not be too clear in your mind either but you can jog over to Google and do a quick query to find exactly where they are.
What exactly is the Temple of Edfu? Primarily it is a temple committed to to Horus. As I'm sure we all recollect, Horus is the falcon headed god who is one of the oldest and most important deities in historical Egyptian religion. People worshiped him from the late Predynastic period through Greco-Roman times.
But enough of the history class, what exactly is there to find over there?
Basically Edfu is the best kept ancient temple in all of Egypt and besides the Temple Karnak, it is the largest sized Temple of its kind.
Besides the Temple, you can also see the ruins from one of seven small pyramids that were built along the Nile Valley about 3 miles north of Edfu. Who doesn't like to check out pyramids, after all!
The Temple was built during the reigns of 6 Ptolemies. They started making them around 237 BC and finally finished around 57 BC. 180 years is quite a long time to work on a temple but you'll probably understand why it took so long when you see it.
Archaeologists found the temple completely sunken underneath the desert. The only thing sticking out of the top was the entry pylon. After they cleared out all the sand they found that the temple was in nearly perfect condition which is very scarce and quite a treat!
When you check out the main archways you'll notice six to eight sets of images that are all remarkably winged. Further back, inside the entrance, you'll find a ten foot black marble figurine of the god Horus.
Almost every surface of the Main Hall is covered with numerous carvings of various hieroglyphics, some of which have been deciphered and some of which have not.
Now this may not be the type of family vacation that you normally take, but if you're engaged in history; particularly the history of ancient Egypt, then there are few sites as superb as this one. Check out the Temple of Edfu, you won't be unsatisfied.
Remote Holiday Location - The Temple Of Edfu
By: Jason Markum
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