The Temple of Edfu

 

The Temple of Edfu is located on the west bank of the Nile in Edfu, Upper Egypt. The temple was built during the 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  Ptolemy 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 Theodosius I (the emperor of Rome from 379 CE to 395 CE).