The Temple of Dendur is an ornate Egyptian temple gifted to the US by the Egyptian government in 1965. Built by the Romans in Nubia, it is dedicated to Isis, Osiris, and Harpocrates. It is on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.
The Temple of Dendur is an Egyptian temple that was transported in sections to the United States in 1965 as a gift from the Egyptian government to the United States. Today the structure is on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City and visitors can explore both the interior and exterior of this temple, which is incredibly ornate, despite being relatively small. This temple is believed to be the only existing Egyptian temple on display in the Western Hemisphere, making it a truly remarkable and priceless object.
Although the Temple of Dendur is generally described as “Egyptian”, it was actually built by the Romans and was not built in Egypt, but rather in Nubia, an area that today lies in southern Egypt and northern Sudan . The temple was built by Emperor Augustine around 15 BC and numerous sculptures by Augustine are found both inside and outside the temple, with the images depicting the emperor in the act of making offerings.
This structure consists of a large freestanding gate, an open courtyard and a rectangular temple structure which includes an antechamber and an altar. From the gate to the rear of the temple, the Temple of Dendur is 82 feet (25 meters) long and the temple blocks are heavily covered in carvings with classical Egyptian motifs ranging from lotuses to the sun disc of Horus; these carvings were once decorated with colored paint and have been defaced by various visitors over the centuries who have left graffiti, with the most recent graffiti dating back to the 1800s.
This structure is dedicated to the goddess Isis, together with her husband Osiris and another Egyptian god, Harpocrates. Two of the sons of a prominent Nubian chieftain are also honored in temple art.
In 1963, the construction of the Aswan High Dam threatened a number of priceless Egyptian antiquities. The US government, along with several other governments, sent teams of archaeologists to examine and move the antiquities so they could be preserved; the Temple of Dendur was one such structure, and its gift to the United States must have been a pretty big thank you for helping to preserve Egyptian culture.
When the Temple of Dendur arrived in the United States, numerous museums vied for the honor of exhibiting it. When the Metropolitan Museum won the contract, it took more than a decade to set up a suitable exhibition structure, which includes walls of speckled glass that are meant to evoke the light of Nubia and a reflecting pool to represent the Nile. The temple was put on display in 1978 and has been a popular attraction ever since.
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