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Fig. 27 Capital of pronaos (Aldred 1978, 50)
On this figure one of the capitals of the pronaos is shown. The capital exists of four layers of flower
leafs from big to small. The decoration on the leafs is difficult to see as the capital is damaged, but
it seems to be funnel-shapes, probably representing veined leafs. Above the capital is an abacus
and above that an architrave. Both of these are decorated as well. The abacus shows the ankh sign,
the sign of life. Next to it is a depiction of the eye of Horus. The sign on the left of the ankh sign
looks similar, but is harder to recognise on this picture. On the left of the architrave it is possible to
see part of a wing. This looks like the wing seen before in depictions of the winged sun disk. On the
right two symbols can be recognised alternating each other. It is not clear how far they go. The first
can be interpreted as the Djet pillar. This was a sign of stability and was (in later periods) identified
as the backbone of Osiris. The second sign can be interpreted as the Isis knot. Both were
commonly placed on mummies in the New Kingdom (Taylor 2010, 128-129; Aldred 1978, 50; Katan
and Mintz 1992, 72).
According to Aldred the ankh symbolises the continuing life of the temple and the soundness and
completeness of its structure. A depiction of the winged disk and its inscription are located on the
architrave. According to Aldred this translates to: “Horus of Edfu, the Great God, Lord of heaven,
with dappled plumage” and is followed by alternating symbols for “endurance” and “welfare”,
which confirms the previous interpretation of the winged sun discs and their function as symbols
of protection (Aldred 1978, 50).