Ancient Archaeology and World Heritage

The Elephanta Caves, also known as Gharapuri Caves, are a collection of cave temples primarily dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva. These ancient rock-cut shrines, considered to have been constructed between the 5th and 7th centuries CE are Located on Elephanta Island in Mumbai Harbour, India. The main cave at the island (also called the Great Cave) consists of a square court surrounded by cells and several entrances. The main entrance faces north, while two side entrances face east and west. The temple is enclosed in the cave with only interior walls, without an exterior wall. The Linga shrine of the Great Cave temple is a free-standing square stone cella (the inner area of an ancient temple), with entrances on each of its sides. Each door is flanked by two Dvarapalas (gate guardians) , for a total of eight around the shrine.

  The Temple of Edfu is located on the west bank of the Nile in Edfu, Upper Egypt. The temple was built during t he Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt between 237 BCE and 57 BCE and was dedicated to the ancient Egyptian deities Horus and Hathor. Construction of the temple which stands today is estimated to have commenced during the reign of Ptolemy III Euergetes (reigned from 246 BCE to 222 BCE) and completed during the reign of  P tolemy XII Auletes (reigned from 80 BCE to 58 BCE,  and again from 55 BCE to 51 BCE). The current temple was constructed on the site of an older, smaller temple also dedicated to Horus. The older temple was probably constructed and used in the 19th dynasty , during the reigns of Ramesses I (reigned from 1292 BCE to 1290 BCE), Seti I (reigned from 1290 BCE to 1279 BCE) and Ramesses II (reigned from 1279 BCE to 1213 BCE). The temple was abandoned as a religious monument following the banning of non-Christian worship within the Roman Empire in 391 CE by Theodo

Located in northern Jordan,  Jerash  is one of the largest and most well-preserved sites of  Greek and Roman architecture  in the world outside Italy. While the earliest evidence of human settlement in Jerash dates back to 7500 BCE during the Neolithic age, the city flourished during the Greek, Hellenistic, Roman, and Byzantine periods until its’ destruction by the  Galilee earthquake in 749 CE  and subsequent earthquakes. The archeological site of Jerash