AscendingPassage.com HOME PAGE.
See the: Egyptian Secrets Library.
Wady Meharakka Temple
The temple of Meharrakka (Meharraka, Maharraqa, Maharraka or Maharaga) dates from the Greco-Roman period. It was rescued from the rising waters from the Aswan High dam and placed on higher ground together with Wadi El Seboua temple and the temple of Dakka, for the ease of the tourists.
Wadi Meharrakka Temple
March 26th, 1813.
In
three hours and a half, we came to El Nowabat, a ruined village,
opposite to Thyale on the east bank. The shore
is here very narrow, and the western hills are low, and sandy. Eight hours and a
half brought us to the northern extremity of Wady Meharraka (Maharraka), where
the plain widens considerably, being broader than in any other part
north of Derr; though it is cultivated at present only near the
river.
The Temple at Meharraka,
by David Roberts, 1838
Here is the ruin of a temple, consisting of a portico of
fourteen massy columns, with capitals of different sizes and forms,
according to the ancient Egyptian taste in architecture. They are
encompassed by a wall, which being joined to the entablature of the
colonnade, forms a covered portico all round. The southern wall has
fallen down, apparently from some sudden and violent concussion, as
the stones are lying on the ground, in layers, as when placed in
the wall; a proof that they must have fallen all at once. I
observed some hieroglyphics sculptured upon single stones lying
about in this part.
The columns on the south side are joined to
each other, except the two center ones, by a low wall, half their
height, in the same manner as those in the temple of the hawkheaded
Osiris at Philæ.
There is one large entrance, and two smaller ones,
and a stair-case leading up to the top. Several paintings of Greek
saints are upon the walls; but no hieroglyphics, nor sculptures, of
any kind, are visible, not even the globe, common to all the
Egyptian temples; neither are there any sculptures on the columns.
The walls of this ruin are very neatly and well constructed. There are several inscriptions in the ancient popular
Egyptian character, such as is seen on the manuscripts of
papyrus.
The whole portico stands upon a terrace of massy stones, eight
feet high towards the river; on this side is the great gate, but,
as there are no steps up to it, it is probable that it was used
only during the period of inundation, when vessels might moor close
under it; at present, the water does not reach the temple at the
time of the inundation. The portico is fifteen paces in length, and
nine in breadth: there is nothing about it which denotes it to be
of Egyptian origin, except the palm-leaves sculptured on the
capitals of the columns; it possesses, however, an imposing
simplicity, and belongs, I think, to the last epoch of Egyptian
architecture.
The Temple of Wadi Meharraka,
by François Chrétien Gau, 1819
Close to the walls of the portico are the remains of
another building, which had probably been a temple similar to the
above, and not a part of the same structure, for I could not
perceive any corresponding parts in the two
buildings. A wall only remains, and the foundations of the
principal building; on the former are several sculptures, one of
which represents Isis sitting under a tree, and receiving
offerings; it is in high relief, unlike any thing of the kind I
have seen in Egyptian temples, and more resembling Grecian
sculpture.
From the Temple of Wadi Meharraka,
by François Chrétien Gau, 1819
This circumstance, and the Grecian-like simplicity of
the portico, lead me to conjecture that both edifices were the work
of the Ptolemies, who constructed temples to the Egyptian deities
in several parts of Egypt, in which they imitated the architecture
consecrated to their worship. I saw no hieroglyphics on the
wall.
There are large mounds of rubbish, and fragments of pottery, in
this place.
Near Wady Meharraka the island of Derar commences. At eight
hours and three quarters is the village of Korty. About two hundred
yards from the river stands a ruined temple; it is the smallest I
have seen, and may truly be called an Egyptian temple in miniature,
being only ten paces in length; the cella and adytum are yet
standing; the pronaos seems to be buried under the sand. Of the
sculptures, a few figures, and the winged globe over the gates,
remain; but the whole temple is in a very mutilated state.
Wady Meharraka and Broken Pots
excerpt from: Travels in Nubia
by John Lewis Burckhardt, published in 1819
For Beautiful Jewelry of Nepal and Tibet
See: JewelryTibet.com.
See a list of chapters
Ascending Passage Home Page
Library of Egyptian Secrets
