The Great Temple of Thoth is destroyed as it was used for centuries as a quarry for later buildings. From the Middle kingdom, one can still behold the remains of the monumental gateway that once formed part of the temple’s façade. The actual considerable remains of the temple date back to the Eighteenth and the Nineteenth Dynasties. In the Pylon of Horemheb and Ramses II‘s remains, Talatat Blocks were extracted from the buildings of Akhetaten. At the same time, the rest of the temple’s construction dates back to the reign of Nectanebo I of the Thirtieth Dynasty, and the mud-brick walls and the gateway date back to the rule of this king. Though other additions were annexed to the temple by Alexander the Great and Ptolemy I, they have disappeared since their blocks were used in the building of a sugar factory in 1826. On the site stand other minor constructions dating back to Ramses II and Emperor Domitian.
Location of Temple of Thoth at El Kab
Temple of Thoth lies in Al Hagz Qebli, Edfu, Aswan Governorate.
Overview
El-Kab is perhaps most famous for its many splendid tombs, but there are also several temple ruins in the area. The main temple complex at el-Kab, within the massive mudbrick wall encompassing at least part of the ancient town, contains many different structures and is difficult to understand without a ground plan. There appears to be a little serious investigation of this complex. These structures are built against and into each other. This region was sacred to the goddess Nekhbet, “She of Nekhen”, who became the tutelary goddess of Upper Egypt, while Wadjit was her counterpart in Lower Egypt.
A simple temple structure was probably present at el-Kab from the Early Dynastic Period, and indeed Middle Kingdom rulers built here, but the current remains date from the New Kingdom. The most significant part of the main temple complex at el-Kab was dedicated to Nekhbet, but this temple was attached to an older temple of Thoth. Many reused blocks from the Middle and the New Kingdom can be seen in both temples. These structures are on the typical plan of the New Kingdom cult temple, with an open courtyard including a portico, a hypostyle hall, pronaos and three contiguous sanctuaries. Surrounding them are various subsidiary structures, including a Roman-era temple.
Construction of Temple of Thoth
The Temple of Thoth was constructed in the 18th Dynasty under the direction of Amenhotep II. A pylon of Ramesses II forms the entrance fronting the temple of Thoth. Beyond the pylon, the open courtyard has two porticoes, each with four columns flanking the processional way. This courtyard gives way to a small, six-column hypostyle hall that precedes the pronaos, a small transverse hall with only two columns. Beyond the pronaos is the triple sanctuaries.
The longer temple, dedicated to Nekhebet, adjoining the temple of Thoth on the northeast, was also completed in stages, mainly during the Late Period’s 29th and 30th Dynasties reigns of Hakoris and Nectanebo I and II. However, it was probably initiated during the 25th Dynasty by Tahraqa, with Psammetichus I adding to it in the 26th Dynasty upon even earlier remains. In this temple, the walls of the forecourt were originally in line with those of the hypostyle hall in the adjacent temple of Thoth. Still, when this temple was enlarged eastward, it assumed an unsymmetrical plan.
To reach the courtyard, one passes through a set of small pylons. There is an inner and outer courtyard, with the internal having two columns. Through a pylon with an interesting drainage system, this smaller, original courtyard gives access to an unsymmetrical hypostyle hall with two rows of four columns to the west and four rows of four columns to the east. Hakoris built this hall. Further east is two small chambers and one very small chamber. To the north of the hypostyle hall, a centre entrance leads to the pronaos, while to the left and right, entrances give way to many other annexes, some with columns. The pronaos itself has two pillars, and beyond this room, three doors lead to the triple sanctuaries, of which the centre extends deeper than those to the left and right. A small space behind the left and righthand sanctuaries separated by the extended length of the central sanctuary are referred to as the “crypts of Psammetichus I.
There is a small sacred lake just east of the Temple of Nekhbet.
To the south of this part of the temple complex lies a birth house containing a chamber with six columns, and further south is an arrangement of structures, including pylons and a kiosk of Nectanebo I. This kiosk and pylon represented the entrance way through the temple enclosure wall. Just to the east of the main pylon entrance is another opening called the “Lion Gate” Still further south, there are also the remains of a small Roman temple. It is abutted up against the outer enclosure wall. This entrance is commonly referred to as the gate of Nectanebo I.
