The temple of the falcon god Horus at Edfu is the best preserved example among the Graeco-Roman temples of Egypt. It is also the repository of the most detailed legacy on matters of cult and temple function. Copious inscriptions throughout the temple served not only the exigencies of the cult, but also the need to preserve its secrets for the benefit of later generations. On the basis of these inscriptions, carved on the walls in Ptolemaic hieroglyphs, we are now able to reconstruct the ceremonies that took place in the temple and understand their significance. A close cult connection existed between the temple of Edfu and that of Hathor at Dendera. Hathor of Dendera was considered to be the consort of Horus of Edfu. The product of their union was the child god Harsomtus who thus completed the divine triad.
Every year, on a fixed date, a fleet of boats towed the sacred bark of Hathor upstream from Dendera to Edfu. It was accompanied by many pilgrims from the region who made the trip to Edfu in order to participate in the festivities of the "good reunion", the annual meeting of the two gods, which was always celebrated on full moon. Fourteen days later, the same cortege would make its way back to Dendera.
The temple is situated on the west bank of the Nile, 100 kilometers south of Luxor. It took no less than 180,yeårs continued on page 219 to fully build and decorate it, hence it bears royal names of most of the Ptolemaic rulers of Egypt. Near the temple proper, there was a mammisi for the divine birth of Harsomtus. The Egyptians, who were under foreign rule, considered the birth of the young Harsomtus as symbolically equivalent to the birth of an indigenous king. Horus of Edfu was, therefore, both a god and the symbol of Egyptian royalty. Hence, much emphasis was placed on another aspect of the myth of Horus, that of his triumph over his traditional enemy Seth. A series of detailed representations in the temple was focused on episodes of the struggle between Horus and Seth, often represented as a hippopotamus.