Temple of El-Death

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The Temple of El-Death is a former ancient Egyptian temple dedicated to the falcon-headed god of war Month in the city of el-Death (also el-Tôd; Arabic) twenty kilometers southwest of Luxor. In pre-ptolemaic times, the city was called Ḏrty (Djerti), meaning “city of the falcon,” and was located in the 4th Upper Egyptian Gau. Among the Greeks, el-Death was called Touphion and under the rule of the Roman Empire Tuphium. The temple area of el-Tod is located about two kilometers south of the Nile and had a quay that could be used in the annual flooding of the river in the past. On the opposite side of the river lies the city of Armant (Erment), the Hermonthis of antiquity.

History

Temple history

A first indication of the construction activity in el-Death is a granite pillar with the hieroglyphic cartridge of Userkaf, a king (Pharaoh) of the 5th dynasty in the Old Kingdom. From the time of the Middle Kingdom, blocks of kings were Mentuhotep II. Neb-hapet-Re and Mentuhotep III. Se-anch-ka-Re from the 11th Dynasty. The predecessors were replaced in the 12th Dynasty by King Sesostris I Cheper-ka-Re by a new stone temple building. A wall with a dedication inscription of the king and the 19.35 × 26.20 meter large area of foundation plates are still preserved. Under the successor of Sesostris I, Amenemhet II. Nebu-kau-Re, there were only a few additions to the building, from whose reign four copper boxes found in the temple foundation with valuable objects from Near Asia and the Aegean space.

In the time of the New Kingdom, Thutmosis III. Build a barge station north of the processional road leading from the temple to the banks of the Nile. It was repaired at irregular intervals by his successors Amenophis II, Sethos I, Amenmesse, Ramses III and Ramses IV. Many stone blocks of the building were later used in the construction of the church of Deir Anba Ibschai. Outside the grounds uncovered today, a larger temple building Thutmosis III is suspected under a mosque.

At the time of the Ptolemies, the Month Temple was extended. At the ramp of the quay connected to the temple, signatures of King Ptolemy IV were found at the inner base of two miniature pylons. Philopator. The main temple of Sesostris I was built incorporating the ancient facade wall in the time of Ptolemy VIII. Euergetes II. set up a hypostyl and a pronaos, and the outdoor area extended by a sacred lake. The temple was decorated with further reliefs by Ptolemy X Alexander I, Ptolemy XII. Neos Dionysos Auletes and Cleopatra VII. Philopator until the Roman period under Emperor Antoninus Pius. In the south of the Ptolemaic temple, near the sacred lake, a kiosk-like sanctuary was built under the Romans, from which individual pillar bases and stone blocks are still preserved.

History of research
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