Institute Evening Cairo

Hybrid Lecture | Cairo

»Revisiting the City of the Sun. Egyptian-German Excavations in Matariya/Heliopolis«

Aiman Ashmawi | MOTA (Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities)
Dietrich Raue | Deutsches Archäologisches Institut

The sun-cult was the central element of ancient Egyptian religion for more than three millennia, and Heliopolis stood at its centre – the place of the world's creation and a country-wide reference point. The architectural layout and the landscape of Heliopolis are the topic of much debate. Most of these hypotheses are based on decontextualised objects. The Egyptian-German archaeological mission focussed on the reconstruction of the topography of this sanctuary and revisited the site of the last systematic excavations of Ernesto Schiaparelli and W. M.  Schiaparelli in the Early 20^th century. The results illustrate the transition of the area starting with periods when the mythology might have been formed. The further development of the temple site proved the transformation into an important national sanctuary of the 3^rd, 2^nd and earlier 1^st millennia BCE of Egypt. 

Current fieldwork adresses for the first time the architecture and epigraphy of the temenos in its latest phase, representing the last period when it had international fame in 4^th century BCE as well as its subsequent history from the Hellenistic to the Mameluke periods.