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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 of 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 and Broken Pots



Edited excerpt from: Travels in Nubia
by John Lewis Burckhardt
Published in 1819.

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.

it seems a stiff wind could topple the remains of the Temple at Meharraka.
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. 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 if they 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 Philae.

Plan of the Temple at Wadi Meharakka by Francois GauThere is one large entrance, 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 winged globe. 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 script, such as is seen on manuscripts of papyrus.

The whole portico stands upon a terrace of massy stones up to 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 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 width. 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 an imposing simplicity, and belongs, I think, to the last epoch of Egyptian architecture.

the temple at Wadi Meharraka.
The Temple at 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. I could not perceive any corresponding parts in the two buildings. A wall and the foundations of the principal building only remain. On the wall are several sculptures, one of which represents a goddess 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.

the woman sculpture.
From the Temple of Wadi Meharraka,
by François Chrétien Gau, 1819



Photograph by Francis Frith 1862.



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. I saw no hieroglyphics on the walls.

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.



by Hector Horeau 1841.



Wady Korty Temple


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. It is 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.
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Edited excerpt from: Travels in Nubia
by John Lewis Burckhardt
Published in 1819.



by Prisse d'Avennes, 1878




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