A pilgrimage to the temples and tombs of Egypt, Nubia, and ...

266 TEMPLE OF EDFOU.
to give them the character of temples and
dwellings.
Yesterday morning we reached Edfou, the
Apollonopolis of the ancient Greeks, and landed
after breakfast to visit the temple. It is about a
mile from the river side, and the ride to it is (for
this country,) rather an agreeable one, through
less of dust and more of verdure than is generally
to be found in Upper Egypt. The morning air
was scented by bean-fields in full bloom ; and
patches of dhourra, partitioned off by hedges
of the Castor-oil plant, tempted our donkeys to
many a loitering nibble by the way-side. The
temple is dedicated to Aroeris (the Apollo of the
Greeks,) and I believe that no constructed sanc-
tuary in the valley of the Nile remains so perfect
as regards its form and outline ;
and a more com-
plete idea may be formed from it of the general
plan and appearance of those sacred edifices than
from the rock-cut temples of Ibsamboul. For
Edfou possesses its magnificent propylon intact,
opening into a splendid peristyled court surround-
ed by thirty-two colossal columns, and then fol-
lows the pronaos with its mighty pillars in the
style of that of Esne. The inner chambers and
the sanctuary are now impassable, as the soil, or
rather the ruins of Arab villages that have sue-