Elephantine Island: Topographic Views
Gilchrist, Scott
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Date
2003Description
The west tip of the island, showing remains of Ancient Egyptian ruins; The most important of Aswan's islands is Elephantine, known to the ancient Egyptians as Abu: '[the country of] the elephant', or 'the ivory'. In the southern half of the island was the Old Kingdom walled city. The principal temple in this area was dedicated to the ram-god Khnum as 'lord of the cataract region', with whom were associated the goddesses Satis and Anukis. The main visible remains of the temple are a granite naos of Nectanebo II (reigned 360-343 BCE), a gateway of Alexander IV (reigned 316-304 BCE) and the huge Roman quay. To the north is a group of Late Period vaulted mud-brick tombs that contained the mummified remains of sacred rams. To the north-east is the Temple of Satis, built in the Ptolemaic period, using blocks from the Temple of Khnum; a well-preserved Nilometer belonging to the temple survives on the east shore of the island. The most interesting monument on Elephantine is the shrine of the Heqaib cult discovered by Labib Habachi in 1946. Source: Grove Art Online; http://www.groveart.com/ (accessed 1/17/2008)
Type of Work
photographSubject
architectural exteriors, cityscapes, contemporary (1960 to present), landscapes, Nile River, topographical views, Twenty-first century
Rights
Rights Statement
Licensed for educational and research use by the MIT community only