Temple of Dakka

Temple of Dakka, is one of the most recognized temples in Egypt, which can be climbed to enjoy views of Lake Nasser. Temple of Dakka was a place in Lower Nubia. It is the site of the Greco-Roman Temple of Dakka, is one of the most recognized temples in Egypt, which can be climbed to enjoy views of Lake Nasser. Temple of Dakka , dedicated to Thoth, the god of wisdom in the ancient Egyptian. The temple was initially a small one-room shrine or chapel, first begun in the 3rd century BC by a Meroitic king named Arqamani in collaboration with Ptolemy IV who added an antechamber and a gate structure. Ptolemy IX "subsequently enlarged the temple by adding a pronaos with two rows of probably three columns. During the Roman period, the Emperors Augustus and Tiberius further enlarged the structure with "the addition, at the rear, of a second sanctuary as well as inner and outer enclosure walls with a large pylon. The sanctuary contained a granite naos. The Temple of Dakka, is one of the most recognized temples in Egypt, which can be climbed to enjoy views of Lake Nasser. Temple of Dakka was transformed into a temple fortress by the Romans and surrounded by a stone wall, with an entrance along the Nile.

-Name & Location:
El-Dakka was known to the Egyptians as Pselqet (pr-slk.t; House of the goddess Serqet or Selqet) and to the Greeks as Pselchis. It is located in Lower Nubia at New Wadi El-Seboua site. The temple of Dakka was originally located about 100 kilometers south of the Aswan High Dam in what we refer to today as Nubia, though much of that ancient land is covered by Lake Nasser. Because of the impending flooding of the region as a result of the High Dam, it was moved to the site of el-Sebua, about 40 kilometers upstream, between 1962 and 1968.

• Architecture
  -The dromos and pylon:
  A large dromos (processional route) leads to the pylon, which formed the entrance to the temple. A 55-metrelong processional route ran from the temple's pylon to a cult terrace at the Nile. While the temple of Dakka was similar architecturally to the temple of Wadi es-Sebua, it lacked a front courtyard of sphinxes; however, its 12- metre-high pylon is in near perfect condition. Each of the pylon's towers is decorated in high relief and bears numerous graffiti from visitors, mostly in Greek but some in Demotic and Meroitic script.

• Architecture
  -The Pronaos:
  It was built by Ptolemy IX. Its facade has 2 Papyriform columns. The portal of this section of the temple is engaged to two columns that support an architrave. Both the screen walls of the pronaos and its inner walls rarely have relief decorations. The facade of the pronaos is adorned with reliefs of a Ptolemaic King sacrificing to various deities. During the Christian period of Egypt, the facade of the pronaos was converted for use into a church, and Christian paintings were still visible here in the 20th century before the temple was enveloped by the Nile floods.

-The Sanctuaries:
The temple has two sanctuaries, which include that built by Arqamani and then a second one added by Augustus. By far the Nubian reliefs within the temple are the most interesting. They are depicting the Nubian king making offerings to local gods of Aswan. Anqet (Anukis), the goddess of Aswan with her elaborate feathered headdress, and the lion-headed goddess Sekhmet with other scenes of the king making offerings to Thoth, Isis and Tefnut. There are reliefs of cows offered as gifts to the god Thoth carved into the naos of the Temple of Dakka, is one of the most recognized temples in Egypt, which can be climbed to enjoy views of Lake Nasser. Temple of Dakka .

-The Dakka temple is visited on the trip to Lake Nasser, usually by cruise.