Roof chapel

Chapel on the roof of the Temple of Hathor at Dendera .

The roof chapel is a cult building on the roofs of larger Egyptian temples. In the Old Kingdom , astronomical observations were made on the roofs of the pyramid temples . For this purpose, a year circle was set on the roof of the Ramesseum . In the New Kingdom were on the temple roofs sun worship such. B. on the roof of the Ach-menu .

In the Ptolemaic period , kiosks were set up for the ritual of uniting the images of gods with the solar disk . Only the open kiosk on the roof of the Hathor temple in Dendera has survived . It contains twelve Hathorkapitellsäulen and two built Osiriskammern .

In many other temples, roof chapels can be assumed due to the existence of a staircase for roof processions .

literature

• Dieter Arnold : Lexicon of Egyptian architecture . Albatros, 2000, ISBN 3491960010 , p. 58, → roof chapel.