Explore the Ornamental decorations about the Architecture of this artwork.
Amelia Edwards, an English writer who visited the temple on her 19th-century tour up the Nile, wrote:At Dendoor, when the sun is setting...we visit a tiny Temple on the western bank. It stands out above the river surrounded by a wall of enclosure...The whole thing is like an exquisite toy, so covered with sculptures, so smooth, so new-looking, so admirably built. Seeing them half by sunset, half by dusk, it matters not that these delicately-wrought bas-reliefs are of the Decadence school. The rosy half-light of an Egyptian afterglow covers a multitude of sins, and steeps the whole in an atmosphere of romance.The temple is decorated throughout with relief carvings which were originally painted in bright colors. The figures depicted include Augustus as a pharaoh interacting with goddesses and gods. Some of those divine beings are Amun of Debod, Arensnuphis, Harpocrates, Hathor of Bigga, Horus, Isis, Khnum, Osiris, Mandulis, Nephthys, Satis, Tephenis, and Thoth. The carvings also honor two heroic Nubian brothers turned demigods named Pihor and Pedesi. Pedesi means "he whom Isis has given" and, Pihor means "he who belongs to Horus."The temple base has carvings of papyrus and lotus plants growing out of the Nile, symbolizing the god Hapi. Over the pylon and above the entrance to the temple proper is the Winged sun disk of the sky god Horus, representing the sky. The vultures on the ceiling of the pronaos repeat the sky motif.The antechamber and the sanctuary are undecorated, except for the reliefs on the antechamber door frame and the back walls of the sanctuary. The latter show Pihor and Pedesi as young gods worshiping Isis and Osiris, respectively.The temple's outer walls feature sunk relief carvings of Emperor Augustus as a pharaoh making offerings to the deities Isis, Osiris, and their son Horus. The subject repeats in raised relief carvings in the first room of the temple, showing Augustus as he prays and makes offerings. Hieroglyphs associated with the carvings refer to Augustus as Caesar, Pharaoh, and Autotrator. The latter is an alteration of Autokrator, or autocrat, the Greek equivalent of imperator. This misspelling seems deliberate to achieve greater symmetry in the hieroglyphs.The exterior south doorway features cobras wearing crowns from upper and lower Egypt. To the left is a white crown, a symbol of upper Egypt, and a red crown for lower Egypt. On the left side, there is a depiction of Isis standing and wearing a close-fitting sheath, a headpiece horn from a cow, and a winged disk representing the sun god. In one hand, she holds an ankh, a symbol of life.The scene on the inner south wall of the pronaos depicts the pharaoh and the two brothers Pihor and Pedesi with gifts of incense and water. The Egyptians believed that the pharaoh or Augustus could live forever by giving incense to the gods. The two brothers were both sitting and holding in one hand a staff called a scepter, a symbol of authority and the symbol of life. The pronaos north wall depicts Isis. The columns of the pronaos are decorated with sunk reliefs of men bringing offerings of animals and flowers to the temple.On the east side of the pylon, the relief depicts Augustus with a linen bag in his hand in front of Pedesi and Pihor. The south ramp has a relief of Augustus making an offering of a cobra (the cobra of truth) to the god Harnedotes. Here, Augustus is depicted in Egyptian attire—a kilt with a bull's tail and the white crown of Upper Egypt.
ankh Caesar Mandulis antechamber pharaoh papyrus temple Thoth Winged sun pronaos Hapi sheath imperator lotus Amelia Edwards Nile lower Egypt upper Egypt Arensnuphis scepter Upper Egypt relief Nubia Egypt Pharaoh Isis Osiris sanctuary Tephenis Horus Nephthys Khnum Harnedotes Augustus Harpocrates divine Autokrator