Edfu, which can also be written as Edfu and is called Behdet in the ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics, is a small Egyptian town, located on the west bank of the Nile River between ancient Thebes, Luxor nowadays, and Aswan, with a population of about 60,000 inhabitants. Edfu is the site of the famous Ptolemaic Temple of Horus and has an ancient settlement that goes back as early as 3000 B.C., It was known back in the Hellenistic period as Koine Greek or the Biblical Greek, or in Latin as Apollonopolis Magna as the chief deity of the region, God Horus, was known in Latin as Apollo.
One of the most beautiful temples in the whole of Egypt you can recognize how the Horus god beat the Set god and good won over evil, you can see the falcon in the open court of the temple its amazing statue, as the temple in the west bank in the Nile river
God Horus:
Horus of Behdet was the local god of Edfu according to the ancient Egyptian religion, and his wife was Hathor of Dendera, where a very famous temple for her was known as Dendera Temple. Their annual ritual was one of the most important ceremonies of the Ptolemaic period. Later, this god was identified with Horus, the son of Osiris who was one of the ancient Egyptian gods associated with the underworld.
The winged sun disk associated with Horus of Edfu is the symbol of united Egypt. This motif was a traditional scene depicted on the temple doors and ceilings to commemorate Horus' victory over his uncle, the evil Seth who killed his father when Isis collected his body organs that were scattered everywhere in Egypt in very dramatic mythology known as the myth of Isis and Osiris, the god of the deceased, was the son of Geb and Nut, and his wife, Isis, was associated with motherhood, magic, fertility, death, healing, and rebirth.
Like at Esna, the temple of Edfu is one of the most important sites included within all Egypt Nile River Cruises and also among most of Egypt Travel Packages, Egypt Day Tours, and Aswan day tours. It was constructed during the Greco-Roman era but still retains its Egyptian style of architecture. As a result, a visit to Edfu allows you to see what all of the other ruined temples around Egypt might have looked like.
The town is known for the great Ptolemaic-style temple, built between 237 and 57 B.C., during the reign of the famous Queen Cleopatra VII. Of all the temple remains in Egypt, the Temple of Horus at Edfu is the most extensively preserved. It was built out of sandstone blocks, the enormous Ptolemaic temple was constructed over the site of a smaller new kingdom temple facing the Nile. The later structure faces north to south and leaves the ruined remains of the older temple's pylon to be observed on the east side of the 1st court.
Being located at the center of Edfu town, by the 19th century, the village had been enlarged into a temple with some houses actually standing on the roof of the sand-buried temple. Now the buildings had been cleared away but the excavations are still taking place as surrounding buildings were part of the temple complex itself, only several meters below the modern ground level.
The temple is flawless and marvelous, with the pylon that was built by Cleopatra’s great father during the 1st century before Christ, which leads into a peristyle court and then a hypostyle hall that leads to the sanctuary of Horus, the greatest and most important part of the temple. The ruins which can be seen at many other sites around Luxor and along the Nile Valley are almost the same style. The Temple of Horus at Edfu is by far the most complete example of this unique architectural style.
The Pyramid ruins
The ruins of one of the seven little local step pyramids built along the Nile Valley have been found about 5 km to the south of the current city of Edfu near the village of Naga El-Goneima. The pyramid is made out of the local red-colored sandstone and rises at 5.5 m high. The pyramid was constructed most probably by King Huni of the Third Dynasty. The main aim of those pyramids is incredibly strange and mysterious. Further excavations and a detailed survey have been carried out by the Oriental Institute at Chicago University since 2010.
Planning any tours to Egypt? From our varieties of tours from Cairo, you can easily see the magnificent Temple of Edfu with Cairo Top Tours.
Enjoy sailing on the blue water through the 2 verdant strips on both sides twisting throughout the golden desert when you book your Egypt Nile river cruise tours. And experience the sunny weather of our beautiful country even during Egypt Christmas tours or Egypt Easter. We will save you from the hassle and include some of the best hotels and boats all over the cities you are going to visit through Egypt travel packages, but if you like to book your hotel we have professionally customized a wide variety of Egypt day tours for you, start in the city that never sleeps and explore our Cairo day tours which cover all the archeological sites and entertainment places beginning from Giza pyramids and the famous Sphinx to the Egyptian museum located in El Tahrir square to see the golden mask of king Tutankhamen. And if you feel like camping in one of the most fascinating deserts worldwide we have created the white desert tours. Travel safely with us to upper Egypt and book from our Luxor day trips travel farther out to the amazing Nubia and explore all the options that our Aswan day trips can give you.
If you are passionate about world history, culture, and civilization, I recommend you to visit Egypt, one of the most outstanding countries for its deep history.
The relevant kings of Egypt
Osiris is the Egyptian god of death.
Isis, the Egyptian god of the moon
Ammit, another of the Egyptian funerary gods
Seth is the Egyptian god of violence.
Horus is the Egyptian god of nature.
Ra, the Egyptian god of the sun
Nephthys, guardian of the burial bed.
Maat, the Egyptian goddess of justice