Because of the pravatling elimatic and geographical conditions, the entire water supply of anctent am well a cannot reach by tert intents and purposes, dead. IF this Anundated or irrigated, Lt soon begin to show atone of Hee =o mutiful and teeming with vegetation. 18 siven L1fe — a phenomenon that seems to have profoundly Anfluenced the ancient Egyptiana’ ideas about purifleation.* Purification 1# undaratood as the avoldance or removal of Impurities sfich Lepair manta relation with the gods of Pharaonic times were prefaced by sone act of ritual 16 4s proposed to give a brief account of the differing eatartals employed for purtfieation rites, how the rites were performed, and for mat purpose. The denire (x to describe in outline, s+ recorded in the texte and reliefs of the tamples as transtated and explained by various authors TA Biseraan, “Purttication ceoyets i Sardine, rte Bapttan of Chara tnLeck of apace will prevent entering tnt great detatt or leven attempting proper justification of differing views Examples of Hebrew and Chrtatian rituals of purification ‘are presented, shen obsarved, for the purpose of posaibie comparison and for the sake of Interest. Purity was one of the basic concepts of the Eoyptian raligton.* Everyone sho approached deity had to be teeple, Without purification the effectiveness of the ritual was called into question. Above the entrance to the temple the following text was often writtent “Hay he Hho enters the temple be pure." Basing before the teeple getenay were for ritual ablution. Private and kings had to undergo ritual purification fore entertny Water of all Life and well-being” wae aantionad tn connection with the king's bath. The royal sathroom, called the “house of the morning", wan always aitusted tn front of the actual templar at Edfu, st wae buLlt Into the forecourt. Even the sun god Re purified himeelé tn the celestial ocean before each datty vova Baptina by sprinkling water can be traced back to the Egyptian custom Of pouring water (lustration) over # person during the SW wonnet, Reel Bertin, be T9S2I 759.In order to get an idea of the purification rites and F relationship to the temple, we eust frat turn our attention to the actual teeple bullding itwel? and ite tatory. Host of the ouserous temples of Pharaonic Eaypt ie in ruins today. Host of thee were aodi fied or added to ' ny centuries following thelr constuction that tt fe difficult for the ordinary visitor te gain any t were used for worship. ‘The latest temples built in Egypt, those of the Peolanate Pert + differ from those of Pharaonte ttnew An preservation, and in the nature and extent of the Pellets and writings that cover their walls. Because of enkey (espectally thous of Eafu and Denderah? MILT be vend heavily. The tarts tn thee Late temp fnuch as Cafu and Denderan, include Long descriptions of the temple, room by room. Each room 18 ofven a name and the particular purpose of the room fined. In most canee even the decorations and dimensions given, Each room and nal usually containe additional texte that repeat tte name and give further Information concerning its use. During this time, 352-80 B.Cey Egypt has ruled by the Polenta.Each door 19 similarly naned and bears texte that state tien and for what purpose 1t was used. Other texte record the fastivals that we ong each would last. Sonetines even the ceremonies performed were outlined in some detail. There 2 to be toni ficant evidence that, in general, the texts are based fon sound ancient tradition. With respect to vocabulary and content, they often go back to the arly days of Eoyatian clvittzation, #0 that Lf we are careful and use then with Stecration, they can provide for us a unique source of Egyetian religious practice, Host references to temp M111 be from the teepla at Edfu eince it wa the only Noite the construction of the teaples of Pharaonte Eaypt extended over many centuries, the Ptolemaic temple at Edtu was completed within « comparatively short period of tlwe, and 18 almost perfectly preserved. Because of thts {ene 2000 year-old Temple of Horus at Edfu creates an BuLIt on the site of an eariier temple, 1¢ wawdedicated to the wun god Horus 7, Hathor of Dendara®, and their son Harsomtus (Haraentavl) UUniter of the Two Landa. The history of tte construction and 4 discription of the whole structure are et forth in ong inscriptions on the cutatde of the enclosure wall. The rear part of the complex, the temple propery was begun te 257 B.Csy tn the reign of Ptolemy IT. After several interruptions and continuations by auccesding pharachs, the buttaing was finally ¢intahed tn 57 B.C. during the retan of Ptoleay XI. The entire temple took 180 years te complete. surrounded by # high brick wall, part of which survives. The teeple’ As orfented from south to north. Between the two wings of the Pylon (1) te the Forus was worshipped everyahere in Egypt aa a sun goa, The earitest national gou of Egypt and a manber of the Retiopot stan ennead, Unustfy regarded en aon 9f Oriris and Pharaoh nas beiteved to be an incarnation. of Horus and YY the egitinate successor to Osirt folar atece goddess of s0¥, Tenet fied'wten fate ang the Greek Principal temple at Denderah. Represented with hunan body and cow head with the solar = Hathor 1s the Egyptian sky goddess Aphrodit Ea" the numbers on the mapsTEMPLE OF HORUS AT EDFU +>Imain entrance (2) to the temple which led directly into the Forecourt (3). The Forecourt was a vant open court with a colonade of thirty-two columey twelve on the ‘sldes and etght on the south and. The most frequent name fof the Forecourt waa Court of Offerings. *# North fof the Forecourt was the Pronaos (4) or Outer Hypostyle weich wae most weually called the Fore Mall or Great Court, It was higher and wider than the reat of the Lenple, farther north, and contained twelve great columns. Two email chapels were bullt tthe south wall of the Pronaos, The chapel on the weat of the asin door, calle the House of the Morning (3), wae for the purification of the King before perforaing rituals) and the one on the the temple Ibrary with a collection of books required for Beyond the Pronaoe lies the original nucleus of the tenpla, or temple proper. Firat tw the Pillared Matt (7, a bypostyte hall with the 6 prepared. In the southweat end of this hypostyle hall wae the Roow of the Mile (9) whieh had tn ite weet wall & ‘doar through which the Libations were datly introduced inte the temple. On the gant end of the Pillar TEE, Chassinat, Ly Temple d*Edtou, Vol. 15 pe S54) vole 3, pe 385-357"tenple Treasury (10), tn which wae kept the sore Valuable equipment used in the tempte ritual. Jtral Hall (12), severe the portable shrines of the Lenple divinities were kept. Beyond the north wall of the tore roca for ritual uteneila or for tone cult purpor for temple proper. starting at the Pylon, the wall formed tthe east and west walls of the Forecourt, but from the southern wall of the Pronaos northuard (t formed the outer wall of the @ebulatory (415), whieh encireted the treple, In the east wall of the Anbulatory were two doors, the northernmoat of which (16) 1 to # passage dug under the foundations of the wall Lteelf and to the sacred TS EAE, Reyaond, The wWthical Oriain of the ‘mw Vorkt Ranchester University Noble, 1969), 318 taee algo ppr 46, 47,well or Hitoneter*® (17) from shich pure water for the temple service wae drawn. The wecond door (18), to the mouth of thts, gave access to the temple and through 1t wae brought all the food and offerings for the temple wervict Algo through this door entered the temple staff, whe had ves in the sacred Lake (19) in order to Purttteation by Mater To the ancient Egyptian, the aight of the fertile Land sopearing from the inundation of the Nile River representa the primordial M111 emerging from Munts, the primeval The Larger temples, Like this one at Edtuy Posessed # sacred lake in which creation was imagined to Tavptian erastton, lustration sholy? water 2”Zoning from deep wpringe of water. tha es which is amsociated with the Nile theca to be avaliable for lustration or drinking. Boconiat Clados Prelias sux Religions Ortents dane Tesptre Romain; 87 tletdent EJ. Brill, 19B1). Alec in the Sentah tradition, post biblical sources relate the Naters of efhdn, trapped under the Rock oF Foundation Th'the ory of Hollen of the Cemplay to Libation festhva Connected ko the Fesst of Taberneciea. Sew R. Pataly fen and Tessie in_snetent_ Jewish Mvin_and Eitaaty tondont Thoses Nelson and Sone, 1974) Egyptian tin, 1 the god which represents and