TEMPLE OF EDFOU, ANCIENT APOLLINOPOLIS, UPPER 
EGYPT. 
This magnificent Temple, and a smaller one near to it, are all that remain of the 
ancient city of Apollinopolis Magna. Even in its state of ruin, the great Temple 
is one of the most entire in Egypt; and we are better enabled to judge by it of 
the general arrangements of such structures than from the ruins of any other that 
exist. The period of its erection is comparatively modern: it was begun by Ptolemy 
Philometer about 160 years B.C., and carried on to completion through the next two 
reigns. It is finely situated on a high and commanding ground, overlooking the plain 
of the valley of the Nile. The view of the Temple is taken from a high mound to 
the west of it, beneath which a part of the ancient city is probably heaped. 
Upon the facade of the portico are found the names of Philometer and Euergetes, 
and on an abacus is the oval of Lathyrus, which again occurs, with that of his queen, 
Cleopatra, on the exterior of the area and the portico. On the towers of the propylon 
are the sculptures of Ptolemy, the elder son of Auletes, and his sister, Cleopatra 
Tryphcena ; on the walls of the circuit, which inclose the back part of the Temple, 
the name of Alexander I. is found, together with that of his wife, Cleopatra. Some 
small figures at the corner of the western propylon have been added at a later period, 
and are accompanied by the name of Tiberius Claudius Caesar. 
“The general effect,” says Wilkinson, “of this grand edifice is exceedingly imposing, 
and, from the state of its preservation, it is capable of giving a very good idea of 
Egyptian temples. It also shows the respective proportion and distribution of the 
parts—their exterior appearance when entire, and the strength of these formidable 
citadels; which, while they served as a protection to the town, commanded the respect 
of the inhabitants, and effectually prevented or defeated any attempts of the disaffected 
to dispute the authority of their priestly . rulers. The god Hor-Hat also is the same 
as Agatlio-Diemon, so frequently represented by the winged globe, in the deity of 
Edfou but the honours paid to the crocodile in Ombos, Silsilis, and other neighbouring 
towns, were, if we may believe Strabo, never acknowledged by the inhabitants of 
Apollinopolis.” 
The situation is in the midst of a plain naturally fertile, but is only partially 
cultivated; the Temple lies about five miles from the Nile, which is seen in the 
distance, and bey on l it appears the ridge of mountains where the ancient Necropolis 
of the city was placed. So stupendous are these ruins in this view of the whole 
Temple, that the modern dwellings, which lie before the propylon, have rather the 
appearance of piled rows in a brick-field. The propylon itself, still nearly one hundred 
feet high, is supposed to be more recent than the rest of the Temple; it is built 
