The Temple of Horus at Edfu: 180 years of building

The explanations distinguish finds, interpretations and open questions. Sources appear at the end of the page.

The building stages in the source

The Yale Egyptology page "Overview of other Edfu monuments" states that although a first sanctuary at Edfu is mentioned since at least Dynasty 3, the Temple of Horus "as it currently stands" was started "much later" by Ptolemy III Euergetes I, in 237 BCE. Ptolemy VIII Euergetes II continued it and, 95 years later, inaugurated the temple in 142 BCE; he also initiated work on the enclosure wall and the mammisi. Ptolemy XII Neos Dionysos finalized the enclosure wall, the main courtyard and the pylon, and inaugurated the temple for the second and last time in 70 BCE. Source 1.

"Officially finished"

According to the page, the temple "was officially finished in 57 BCE" with the installation of the main entrance wooden doors between the two pylons, Lebanese cedar doors installed by Ptolemy XII. "In total," it says, "it took 180 years to complete the building and decoration of the Temple of Horus at Edfu." The temple is oriented from south to north, measures "little over 140m long" and occupies an area of about 7,000 square metres. Source 1.

How long does it take to build a temple?

The answer depends on what is counted. From the start in 237 to the first inauguration in 142, 95 years passed; to the second inauguration in 70, 167 years; and to the official completion in 57, 180 years, the figure the page itself gives. "Inaugurated" is not "finished": the temple was inaugurated twice before it was finished, and building and decoration ran through the reigns of the three Ptolemaic kings the page names. A single date, of a start or an inauguration, therefore does not describe the building as a whole. Source 1.

What came before

The page also describes evidence for older temples of Horus, "built on the same location as the current temple", found in the forecourt. Beyond the door leading out of the courtyard to the east, remains of a monumental entrance from the New Kingdom temple carry the names of Ramesside kings of Dynasty 19 and early Dynasty 20 (1295-1069 BCE). Below the pavement of the forecourt, fragments of reused sandstone bear the names of King Djehuty, "perhaps" of Dynasty 13, and of Psamtek II of Dynasty 26 (595-589 BCE), and reliefs show a Kushite king of Dynasty 25. The shrine the page describes was made by Nectanebo II (360-343 BCE), around a hundred years before the construction of the current temple began. Source 1.

Placement on the timeline

The building stages the page dates, from 237 to 57 BCE, all fall within the site's Ptolemaic period, so the article is placed there; the earlier remains are described here only as context. The labels deserve attention: the Yale page dates Dynasty 25 to the "Third Intermediate Period, 747-656 BCE", while the Met's timeline gives "Nubian control, Dynasty 25" ca. 743-664 BCE and counts the dynasty in the Late Period. Sources 1, 2.

Scope of reading: the page "Overview of other Edfu monuments" on the Yale Egyptology website was read on 24 October 2026, and the Met timeline page for Egypt, 1000 BCE-1 CE, was read for the comparison over the dating of Dynasty 25. The temple's inscriptions and the Tell Edfu excavation reports were not read, so this page gives no reading of texts from the temple and no detailed plan.