The Temple of Shanhur: Sanctuary, the Wabet, and the Gates of the Central Hall and the Great Vestibule (1-98)

This first volume of the final publication of the results of the Belgian Mission to Shanhur concerns the decoration of the inner rooms of the temple, and most notably of the sanctuary (built in the time of Augustus) and the wabet (decorated under Caligula). All decoration is presented in facsimile and photograph. The commentary discusses earlier theories on the theology of the temple. The temple is shown not to be a border temple between the spheres of influence of the temples of Thebes and Coptos, but to have been dominated by theological ideas of Coptite extraction. The main goddess (Isis, and not ‘the Great Goddess’, as was previously assumed) occurs in a fourfold form. This seems to be a reflection of the tendency of conceiving of deities in four complementary aspects, the best known instance being the cult of Hathor Quadrifrons.