Deir el-Hagar

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Relief Map: Egypt
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Deir el-Hagar
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Egypt

Deir el-Hagar ( Arabic دير الحجر) is an archaeological site in the Dachla Oasis in Egypt. The temple from the Roman era is located southwest of the place el Qasr ( Arabic القصر, DMG al-qaṣr "castle, fortress, palace") on the far western edge of the oasis.

Deir el-Hagar temple

The sandstone temple is dedicated to the Theban Triad ( Amun , Mut and Chons ). With its dimensions of 7 × 16 meters, it is relatively small, but contains all the essential components of such a system. The temple contains the cartouches of the Roman emperors Nero , Vespasian , Titus and Domitian . The complex is surrounded by a preserved stone enclosure of around 40 × 80 meters. There are other ruins of outbuildings in the immediate vicinity.

Research history

Archibald Edmonstone described the complex in 1822 . At that time, the ceiling of the system was still preserved and three of the facade columns were still upright.

In 1825 JG Wilkinson made a plan of the temple complex.

Inscription of the Rohlfs expedition in Deir el-Hagar

In 1874 an excavation took place by the Rohlfs expedition . On behalf of Gerhard Rohlfs , Philipp Remelé carried out extensive excavations. The excavation was also documented by photographic recordings. The large, supported ceiling stones of the sacrificial room, two of which were broken, were removed. The front of the gate in the west wall turned out to be decorated and well preserved. Two pillars were uncovered and remains of acacia wood were found in them, as well as fragments of the capitals. The sanctuary of the temple contained reliefs with astronomical representations. Here too, scraps of wood and some scraps of raw cotton were found. A boat stand was also found, this can be seen from a photograph. This base was found again during restoration work in 1993. Remelé describes that the walls of the sanctuary were blackened in the lower part and the floor was covered with a solid "peat-like" layer. When the site was re-excavated again, it was interpreted as the remains of spills from an unidentified liquid.

Remelé stated that the temple was very likely destroyed by an earthquake after it had been abandoned for a long time because the capstones fell on a high layer of sand. Recent excavations have confirmed this assumption.

After the temple was uncovered, Remelé took a number of photographs of the complex. Remelé published his results that same year. Rohlfs has also described the excavation results, based on Remelé's report.

literature

  • Olaf E. Kaper: Archaeological research of the Rohlfs'schen expedition in the oasis Dachla (1874). In: Caris-Beatrice Arnst, Ingelore Hafemann, Angelika Lohwasser (eds.): Encounters. Ancient cultures in the Nile Valley. Festival ceremony for Erika Endesfelder , Karl-Heinz Priese, Walter Friedrich Reineke and Steffen Wenig. Wodtke and Stegbauer, Leipzig 2001, ISBN 3-934374-02-6 , pp. 233-251 ( online ).
  • Gerhard Rohlfs : Three months in the Libyan desert. Fischer, Kassel 1875, especially pp. 123–129 ( online ), (Unchanged reprint, with an introduction by Frank Bliss . (= Contributions to cultural studies. Vol. 1, ZDB -ID 1100045-4 ). Politischer Arbeitskreis Schulen eV, Bonn 1985; reprint. (= Africa explorata. Vol. 1). Heinrich-Barth-Institut, Cologne 1996, ISBN 3-927688-10-X ).
  • Museum Schloss Schönebeck (ed.): Photographs from the Libyan desert. An expedition of the Africa explorer Gerhard Rohlfs in the years 1873/1874 photographed by Philipp Remelé. Edition Temmen, Bremen 2001, ISBN 3-86108-791-X .

Web links

Wikivoyage: Deir el-Ḥagar  - travel guide
Commons : Temple of Deir el-Hagar  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Olaf E. Kaper: Archaeological research of the Rohlfs expedition in the Dachla oasis (1874). In: Caris-Beatrice Arnst et al. (Ed.): Encounters. Ancient cultures in the Nile Valley. Wodtke and Stegbauer, Leipzig 2001, ISBN 3-934374-02-6 , pp. 233-251, especially pp. 243-246 ( online ).
  2. ^ Gerhard Rohlfs: Three months in the Libyan desert. Fischer, Kassel 1875, especially pp. 123-129 ( online ).