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The original colours of scenes inside the Temple of Edfu are now visible following cleaning and restoration work by a team from the University of Würzburg and the Supreme Council of Antiquities. The team removed the surface dirt, bird debris, and salt accumulation to reveal colourful scenes and rare traces of gilding used in depictions of royalty and the gods. Christian priestly graffiti emerged too, written in Demotic, with one unique text describing the writer’s entry into Jerusalem.
After cleaning the inner temple walls and the shrines, and fixing the colours to preserve them, the team is now documenting the scenes digitally, and providing more accurate translations of the texts.
Further restoration work at the Temple of Esna (part of an ongoing project by the University of Tübingen and the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities) has also revealed highly coloured scenes with intricate patterned detailing. One of the key discoveries is a scene depicting the priests of Esna carrying the sacred boat of the god Khnum in a ceremonial procession.
Text: Sarah Griffiths / All images: Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, unless otherwise stated
