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The Temple of Hibis is the largest temple in the western oases of Egypt. It is of particular interest as it is one of very few surviving structures built during the first Persian occupation of Egypt – the Twenty-seventh Dynasty (c.525-404 BC). In ancient times the Kharga Oasis, supplied with drinking water by its springs, wells, and lake, was an important stopping point on the caravan routes across the Western Desert. The local town was called Hebet, the ‘Town of the Plough’, which became Hibis in Greek – the name of the temple we use today.
The temple was dedicated to a local form of Amun-Ra, the god Amun-Ra of Hibis, but offerings were also made to the Theban triad of Amun-Ra, Mut, and Khonsu, and to a bewilderingly large variety of other deities. The structure stood in the centre of Hibis town at the edge of the lake, although today the ancient town and lake have disappeared, and the temple stands in picturesque isolation surrounded by palm groves.
The earlier consensus was that the temple buildings were built by Darius I, although it is now recognised that construction may have begun in the Twenty-sixth Dynasty, and was completed and decorated by the Persian king. It was probably built to replace an earlier temple on the same site. There are New Kingdom textual references to a Hibis temple, and several stone blocks used in the Late Period temple appear to have originally belonged to an earlier structure. Each block had been turned round 180°, so that the inscribed face became the back of the block (and so no longer visible), with a different scene inscribed on the newly visible face.
The temple was excavated in 1909/1910 for the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York by a young H E Winlock. Norman de Garis Davies joined the expedition to record the reliefs in the temple. After some delay, the museum published their findings in three volumes. More recent work has been carried out by American Egyptologist Eugene Cruz-Uribe, who recorded the graffiti, and contractors were brought in to stabilise the temple as it had been at risk of collapse. The complex has been made safe for visitors, and is now open again to the public.
The temple complex
The complex extends from the temple proper in the west, via a long avenue, to a quay which would have stood against the lake in ancient times. Now that the lake has disappeared, the quay stands above dry land, as does the quay at the front of Karnak Temple in Luxor.
Egyptian temples were typically built as an original structure with subsequent additions to the front of the building. The Hibis Temple follows this pattern: the original temple finished by Darius I was subsequently extended eastwards by a series of later pharaohs. So, as we proceed along the avenue from the quay westwards, we encounter a series of progressively older features.
The first structure heading west from the quay is the sandstone Outer Gateway, which probably stood at the centre of a mud-brick pylon that no longer exists. The gateway is unroofed and dates to the Late Ptolemaic or Roman Period. In Roman times, it was used as a ‘bulletin board’ by the governors of the oasis, with official edicts inscribed on its walls.
Continuing westwards we reach the Great Gateway built by Ptolemy II (c.285-246 BC). The avenue between the quay and the Great Gateway was originally lined with sphinxes on each side, similar to the avenue of sphinxes at Karnak, but several of these were later removed during the construction of the Outer Gateway. The sandstone Great Gateway was created as the new entrance into the temple complex, through the massive new mud-brick enclosure wall Ptolemy II built around the complex. Apart from a winged solar disc on the cornice, the gateway is undecorated.
Passing through the Great Gateway, we approach the temple itself, first reaching the Inner Gateway built by Darius I (c.522-486 BC). This was the entrance through the original enclosure wall (which was presumably taken down when Ptolemy II built his new larger enclosure wall). Built of sandstone, this gateway is completely decorated with scenes of Darius making offerings to various deities.
Beyond the Inner Gateway there are two sandstone square bases on the ground, halfway between the Nectanebo portico and the Inner Gateway. These are probably the bases for sandstone obelisks erected by Nectanebo II (c.360-343 BC). If they had been erected by Darius before the portico was built, it seems likely that they would have been located further to the west, so they were probably raised during Nectanebo’s reign.
The main temple
Beyond the obelisk bases stands the temple proper. The original temple built by Darius extended from the rear wall to include the Transverse Hall (‘M’ on the plan). The wall between this hall and the Hypostyle Hall (‘N’) was the temple’s original façade, with columns rising from a screen in the usual way. The Hypostyle Hall was then probably added in the Twenty-ninth Dynasty by Hakor (c.393-380 BC), and the Portico (‘Q’) at the front of the temple in the Thirtieth Dynasty by Nectanebo I and II.
There is an interesting mix of styles in the columns in the Portico. The column shafts have straight sides without the entasis (curved bulge) commonly seen around the base of earlier columns. The four columns at the front of the portico have composite capitals, and the two corner capitals represent papyrus clusters. The original capital of the southern column today resides in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, while a rough facsimile has been set in its place in the temple. The capital of the northern column is original. The two inner capitals represent an open lotus flower. The other three capitals on the north side are of the typical open-bell papyrus style, evoking the papyrus swamps of the north. On the south side, the other three capitals are of the palmiform style, evoking the palm groves of the south. In earlier temples up to the New Kingdom, there is little variety – all columns are of the same style side-by-side. In Ptolemaic temples, for example at Philae, we see a variety of column styles next to each other. It is interesting at Hibis to see the beginning of this mix of styles in a single feature.
Beyond the Portico, we pass into the Hypostyle Hall (‘N’), probably built by Hakor. Here the 12 columns exhibit the same variety of campaniform and palmiform capitals as in the portico. Architraves have been restored north–south over the columns in the hall, but the roofing slabs (which would have lain east–west) have not survived, so – apart from netting to keep birds out – the hall stands open to the sky.
On the rear right wall of the Hypostyle Hall (the north façade of the Darius temple) is the famous scene of Seth spearing Apophis. Seth is unusually portrayed as a hawk-headed human with the wings and tail of a hawk. He is accompanied by a lion. He spears the evil serpent Apophis beneath his feet. The hieroglyphs describe Seth as ‘great of strength, the great god, who resides in Hibis’. Some commentators have suggested that this scene is a precursor of the image of St George and the dragon in Christian times.
From the Hypostyle Hall, we can enter the Darius temple, into the Transverse Hall (‘M’). Originally this would have been an entrance porch for the temple, with two rows of four columns, one row rising from the screen in the façade, and a second row behind. They are of the conventional papyrus bell style, with shafts exhibiting the entasis bulge. The walls are decorated with attractive scenes of Darius making offerings to, and being greeted by, various deities.
The Vestibule (‘B’) stands before the sanctuary, surrounded by storerooms (‘F’, ‘G’, ‘I’ and ‘J’). Even in the oldest part of the temple, we can see the beginning of the development of the composite column. The four columns of the vestibule are straight-sided, but taper to be broader at the bottom and narrower at the top – they do not have the entasis. The capitals are conventional campaniform papyrus. The walls continue the theme of Darius making offerings to the Egyptian pantheon.
The temple contains a single Sanctuary (‘A’), the walls of which are covered in nine registers of Darius offering to hundreds of deities. On the south wall are the deities of Upper Egypt; on the north wall we find the deities of Lower Egypt. Although Amun-Ra is the principal god being venerated, his role as a universal god means that he can be associated with all the deities from the whole of Egypt.
Room ‘L’ is a decorated chamber which Cruz-Uribe called the ‘room for divine kingship’. Rather than the repetitive scenes of the king offering to the gods seen elsewhere, here the theme is the divine nature of the king. We can see Ptah and Khnum creating the king on a potter’s wheel, Nekhbet offering crowns to the king, and Hathor offering heb-sed symbols to the king.
Room ‘K’ leads up the stairs ‘K1’ into a small chapel ‘K2’. This is dedicated to Osiris and his resurrection after death. Stairways at ‘E’ and ‘H’ lead up to upper chambers and the roof. Here there are more scenes of the resurrection of Osiris, as is typical in upper chambers of later Egyptian temples.
Visiting the temple
Hibis is located 2 km north of Kharga Town at the north end of the Kharga Oasis. There are two good roads to Kharga from the Nile valley: one from Asyut, and the other from Luxor. Both are normally open, but the police may close either or both roads if the security situation requires it. Some countries discourage their citizens from visiting the western oases. For example, at the time of writing (early 2024) the UK government advises against all but essential travel to the Kharga Oasis. This may have implications for travel insurance policies. If you do decide to make the journey, there are interesting sites to see throughout the western oases which will make your visit worthwhile.
Geoffrey Lenox-Smith holds the Certificate in Egyptology from Birkbeck, University of London, and is one of our regular ‘Out and about’ contributors.
Further reading:
• H E Winlock (1939, 1941, 1953) The Temple of Hibis in el-Khārgeh Oasis (Metropolitan Museum of Art).
• E Cruz-Uribe (1986) ‘The Hibis Temple Project 1984-85 Field Season, Preliminary Report’, in Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt 23: 157-166.
• J P Phillips (2002) The Columns of Egypt (Peartree Publishing).
All images: The author, unless otherwise stated
