In his recent visit (1900) to Baharia, Steindorff[65] discovered
the remains of two Egyptian temples. The first of these exists under
modern dwellings in the middle of the village of El Qasr, in a farm
belonging to the Omda. It contains at present only one room, with no
inscriptions except on the roof, whence, however, we learn that the
building was erected during the reign of King Apries (B.C. 588-570)
to “_Ammon-Re, the Lord of the Oasis, who dwells in Desdest_,”
by a certain _Weh-eb-Re-nofr_ and one _Ded-Khens-ef-Onkh_.
The second temple found by Steindorff, erected by the same “_Prince
and Ruler of the Oasis_” _Ded-Khens-ef-Onkh_, lies about 2
kilometres south-west of El Qasr. It was erected in the reign of
Amasis (B.C. 569-526) and is therefore of somewhat later date than
the foregoing. The large room, excavated from sand by Steindorff,
has its walls ornamented with representations of Egyptian deities,
the colours of which are admirably preserved.
It is curious to note that at least one, and perhaps both, of the
temples discovered by Steindorff had been previously visited by
Ascherson in 1876. This observer mentions (_op. cit._ p. 140) “a
well preserved underground chamber which serves as a dwelling for
the servants of the Omda, which may be of Egyptian origin. On the
roof of this chamber (which is 7·25 metres long, 2·40 metres broad,
and 2·90 metres high) is a line of inscription,” which latter he
was unable to read owing to the darkness. There can be no doubt of
the identity of this place with the first of the temples described by
Steindorff. Further on in his memoir (p. 142) Ascherson also mentions
a ruin called “Qasr Megasba, a sandstone structure having its sides
oriented to the four cardinal points, 8·5 metres long, 6·9 metres
broad, with a small entrance-hall to the south and a large room which
can only be entered through the smaller one.” He relates that the
door-way is walled up with crude brick, and does not say whether he
entered the building or not, so that it is not certain whether this
place is identical with Steindorff’s second temple. The distance
of the ruin from El Qasr, as shown on Ascherson’s map, is about 4
kilometres, i.e., double that mentioned by Steindorff, but otherwise
the nature of the building is strongly suggestive of an identity.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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