Together with Egyptian restorers, a team from the University of Würzburg has discovered traces of gold leaf, remnants of the colorful paintings and handwritten testimonies of the priests in the temple of Edfu.
Egyptian temples were not only colorful - they also shone in glistening gold. Columns, gates and obelisks were already covered in gold at the beginning of the Pharaonic period. These were mostly coatings of thicker, gilded copper foil. Traces of these can only be seen today as holes in the walls.
Directly applied thin gold leaf decorations, on the other hand, have only rarely been documented due to their high sensitivity. Now, however, remains of this type of gilding have been discovered in numerous places in the higher wall areas of the temple of Edfu in southern Egypt.
In the temple of Edfu, which was dedicated to the falcon god Horus, a team from Julius-Maximilians-Universität (JMU) Würzburg in cooperation with the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities is researching the formerly colored painting of the stone reliefs. The reliefs and paintings were cleaned and consolidated by a team of Egyptian restorers under the direction of Ahmed Abdel Naby. The work was financed by the Gerda Henkel Foundation.
"The gilding of the figures probably not only served to symbolically immortalize and idolize them, but also contributed to the mystical aura of the room. It must have been very impressive, especially when the sunlight shone in," says Victoria Altmann-Wendling, research assistant at the JMU Chair of Egyptology and project manager of the Horus Behedety project.
Painters correct faulty hieroglyphs
The restoration team has removed dust, bird droppings and other deposits such as soot from the sandstone reliefs in the Edfu temple. In doing so, they uncovered the remains of the painting that once covered the entire reliefs. In most ancient Egyptian temples, the paintings are not preserved at all or only in a few (interior) areas. The work in the temple’s barque sanctuary was completed in spring 2024. Further analyses of the pigments and gilding are planned.
The multi-coloured paintings provide further details of the scenes and hieroglyphs that were not visible in relief alone, for example elements of clothing or offerings. Ancient Egyptian craftsmen also used color to correct the hieroglyphs carved in stone: "In painting, an ancient quality management becomes visible here," says Martin A. Stadler, Head of the JMU Chair of Egyptology and the Horus Behedety Project. "The fact that the gods were completely gilded is particularly interesting. We also find this in the textual sources, which describe gold as the flesh of the gods," adds Victoria Altmann-Wendling.
Ancient graffiti found
Another result is the discovery of dipinti - graffiti written in ink - in demotic script. These are a direct testimony of the priests entering the temple. Such personal inscriptions are mainly known from outer temple areas or doorways, but not from the sanctuary or the "Holy of Holies" itself, where the barque and the statue of the worshipped god were located.
The prayers addressed to Horus, so-called proskynemata, thus provide new insights into the "spatial biography" of the temple as well as into the beliefs and cult practices of the priests.
Facts about the Temple of Edfu
The Temple of Horus at Edfu is not only the best-preserved sanctuary in Egypt, but also a marvel of ancient architecture. It is 137 meters long and 15 meters wide, 76 meters wide at the pylon and 35 meters high.
With its enormous dimensions and walls completely covered with inscriptions and reliefs, it is a unique monument to ancient religion and architecture. It was built and decorated between 237 and 57 BC during the reign of kings Ptolemy III to XII. It contains more religious texts and ritual scenes than almost any other Egyptian temple. The text tradition dates back to the third millennium BC.
About the Horus Behedety project
The Horus Behedety project, which is mainly funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG), has been running since 2016 and is dedicated to the digital documentation of the building as well as the creation of a new epigraphic edition and annotated translations of the temple’s texts. In addition, the inscriptions, spatial functions and cultic practices associated with the temple are currently being analyzed. Victoria Altmann-Wendling’s sub-project examines the two central rooms, the barque sanctuary and the room behind it called Mesenit.
