Edfu
| Edfu in hieroglyphics | ||||||
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Djeba Ḏb3 |
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Mesen Msn |
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Behdet Bḥdt (southern) Behdet |
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| Greek | Ἀπόλλωνος πόλις μεγάλη (Ἀpóllônos pólis megálê) |
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| Coptic | Atbô | |||||
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Edfu ( Arabic إدفو, DMG Idfū ; Coptic Atbô ) is a large Upper Egyptian city with a population of about 128,000 (calculation: 2010) on the western bank of the Nile , about 100 kilometers north of Aswan and 85 kilometers south of Luxor . Since 1969 a bridge in the north of the city has connected both sides of the Nile. The name Edfu is derived from the ancient Egyptian name Djeba.
The area around Edfu is dominated by agriculture , but the townspeople essentially live from the old pottery . In addition, the city is a trading center with a few sugar factories . Edfu is known for the ruins of the so-called Horus Temple on the western outskirts . The building is considered to be one of the best preserved temples in Egypt .
location
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Location in Egypt |
Edfu is located in the southern part of Egypt in the fertile Nile Valley, 115 kilometers north of Lake Nasser . Around the city, the agricultural areas on both sides of the river were expanded to a length of around 25 kilometers up to 25 kilometers wide. This is followed by the Arabian Desert in the east and the Libyan Desert in the west .
The city belongs administratively to the Aswan Governorate and is located 30 kilometers southeast of the governorate's northern border. The Sudanese border in the south is around 330 kilometers away, and the Red Sea in the northeast is 180 kilometers away. Edfu is connected to Aswan and Luxor along the Nile by a railway line that runs along the east bank of the river. The settlement does not have an actual city center; the exposed temples form the center.
Edfu is connected to the governorate capital Aswan by a road that runs south on the east bank of the Nile via Kom Ombo . The closest international airport is Luxor Airport , five kilometers east of the city of Luxor. The most important traffic artery for Edfu is the Nile, on which the river cruise ships, important for tourism , operate from Luxor to Aswan and the freight traffic to Lower Egypt is handled. The landing stages of the cruise ships operating on the Nile are located along the eastern edge of the urban area.
history
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Location of some ancient Egyptian cities |
The earliest evidence of the Edfu region goes back to the 5th dynasty in the Old Kingdom . Since then, Edfu was the capital of the second Upper Egyptian Gau ( Wetjes-Hor ; "Horus-Thron-Gau" or "Falkengau"). The mastaba of the then Gau prince Izi comes from the 6th dynasty . In the Middle Kingdom , the cult developed around him as a revered "living god". Before the beginning of the New Kingdom , the existing necropolis of Edfu was initially moved four kilometers west to Hagar; in the later period the next relocation of twelve kilometers in a southerly direction to Nag'-el-Hassaya took place. The entire region surrounding Edfu was called "southern Behdet".
While Hor-Behdeti was the god god in the Middle Kingdom, Behdeti took over this function in Greco-Roman times . Horus appeared in Edfu in several manifestations, for example as " Der von Behdet ", Hor-heri-wadjef , Hor-Behdeti-em-Djeba , Hor-Behdeti-em-cheperuef-en-Re , Hor-Behdeti-em- set-wenep , Hor-Behdeti-Re-Min , Horus von Buto in Edfu ( Apollon in Edfu), Hor-en-peref , Harsiese im Falkengau and Harsiese in Edfu .
According to legend , Horus had one of his greatest battles against Seth in Edfu . In ancient Greece , Edfu was called Ἀpóllônos pólis megálê , which in Roman times became Apollonopolis Magna , named after the god Horus of Buto , who was particularly worshiped here. Next to the temple of Hor-Behdeti there are still considerable remains of the ancient city, parts of which have also been excavated. Houses from the Greek, Roman and Byzantine times were found . In the early Middle Ages , Edfu was the seat of a bishop. For a long time, the temple of Edfu was covered with sand up to the capitals , which explains its good state of preservation. In the 19th century, houses of the local Fellach stood on the sand masses along its side . Almost one hundred of the buildings were demolished from 1860 when the temple complex was exposed under Auguste Mariette .
sons and daughters of the town
- Kamāl al-Dīn al-Udfuwi (* 1286; † 1348), historian
See also
literature
- Dieter Kurth : The inscriptions of the temple of Edfu. Department 1: Translations, Part 1 . Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 1998, ISBN 3-447-03862-4 .
- Dieter Kurth: Edfu. In: Kathryn A. Bard (Ed.): Encyclopedia of the Archeology of Ancient Egypt. Routledge, London 1999, ISBN 0-415-18589-0 , pp. 269-71.
Web links
- Dieter Kurth: Edfu. In: Michaela Bauks, Klaus Koenen, Stefan Alkier (eds.): The scientific biblical lexicon on the Internet (WiBiLex), Stuttgart 2006 ff., Accessed on May 26, 2012.
- Egyptology Forum - Edfu (Temple)
Individual evidence
- ↑ ( Page no longer available , search in web archives: World Gazetteer - Egypt: The most important places with statistics on their population )
- ↑ a b Giovanna Magi: A trip on the Nile - The temples of Nubia, Esna · Edfu · Kom Ombo. Casa Editrice Bonechi, Florence 2008, ISBN 978-88-7009-246-2 , p. 13.
- ^ Dieter Kurth: Edfu . P. 269.
- ↑ Christian Leitz u. a .: Lexicon of the Egyptian gods and names of gods . (LGG) Volume 5: Ḥ - ḫ (= Orientalia Lovaniensia analecta. [OLA] Vol. 114). Peeters, Leuven 2002, ISBN 90-429-1150-6 , pp. 253-257.
- ↑ Ἀπόλλωνος πόλις μεγάλη on trismegistos.org
Coordinates: 24 ° 58 ' N , 32 ° 53' E