Station F

Open air museum

The blocks displayed in the open air museum are from the front part of the temple of Ptolemaios XII (80-58, 55-51 B. C.). The most decorative elements of the facade were columns whose capitals bear four faces of the goddess Hathor. As the cow was sacred to this goddess, she is depicted with the characteristic ears of this animal. Some of these Hathoric faces were damaged already in ancient times and had to be repaired, as is demonstrated by square holes containing mortar to stabilise the new surface. Above the faces there is a sistrum box with uraeus snakes representing the musical instrument used in the rites of the Hathor cult.

The columns supported an architrave with a cornice and torus molding of which 30 out of its originally 45 metres are preserved and reassembled. Above the main entrance, along the central axis of the temple, there was a dedication inscription written both in hieroglyphs and in Greek, the official language of the eastern half of the Roman Empire to which Egypt belonged since the death of Cleopatra in 30 B.C. It mentions the exact date of the dedication of the Pronaos (room A) under the reign of Emperor Tiberius: This event most likely occurred on February 8th, 23 A.D.