Upper Nubia at Kalabsha
Small Temple of Het-Hert at Kalabsha, Nubia
from The Gods of Ancient Egypt by Pascal VernusThis small temple, actually a kiosk, was originally at the site of Wadi Kardassy in Nubia, not far from Tafa. It has been sketched by David Roberts in his famous Egyptian lithograph series from the 1800's and is also the subject of steel engravings from that era. It is only about ten square yards and was built during the late Ptolemaic Era and completed during the Roman Period. During this time it formed, along with another small temple (which was donated to the Netherlands and is now on display at the National Museum of Leyden), the religious center of the Roman settlement of Taphis. There were originally ten columns, but only six are still standing today. The two on either side of the entrance are topped by Hathor-head capitals with the naos sistra, which typically decorate her temples. The tops of these columns were roofed with massive slabs, of which only one remains. During the campaign to save the Nubian monuments, when the Aswan High Dam was built, this temple was dismantled and reassembled twenty-five miles away near the site of the Temple of Kalabsha.
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