The temple of Kalabsha is located on Lake Nasser, very close to the high dam. It takes about 30 minutes driving from the city of Aswan, then board a motor boat from the pier for 15 minutes to reach the temple, as it is located on an island. The site needs about an hour for an explanation.
The monuments of ancient Talmis, which was the name of the original site of Kalabsha now disappeared under the waters of Lake Nasser, were moved to their present location in New Kalabsha (Challal) in 1970. Amenhotep II of the 18th Dynasty founded the original temple, but the present temple was built by the Roman Emperor Octavian Augustus (30 BC to 14 AD) who dedicated it to the Nubian god Mandulis, identified with Ra and Min. There are also remains of an earlier temple from the Ptolemaic period.
is the same as that of the Ptolemaic period, with two pylons, courtyard, hypostyle hall and three sanctuary rooms. Unlike other Ptolemaic temples, the building does not follow a straight axis, so the first pylon creates a trapezoid with the first courtyard. The first courtyard had columns on three sides with very few reliefs and some Meroitic inscriptions of King Kharamadoye and King Silko, who conquered the Nubian Blemmyes. After the vestibule, there are three chambers including The Pronaos (a chamber preceding the sanctuary) and The Naos, or the sanctuary where the statues of the gods were located. There are also scenes depicting the king worshipping Mandulis, Horus, Min, and other deities.
The temple is considered one of the greatest examples of Nubian architecture, even though it is not completely finished. Its architecture is typical of the Roman period, but it presents beautiful reliefs illustrating Horus emerging from the reeds, as well as many later records of governors such as Aurelius Bessarion or the Nubian king Silko, head of a Christian kingdom called Nobatia.
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