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Shenhur
The temple of Shenhur shows decoration dedicated to the god Min. As it was located on the
eastern trade routes it was probably used by travellers of these routes as they sought the
protection of Min on their travels. Besides this certain festivals were celebrated in this temple,
such as the raising of the pole scene. The fact that this ritual actually took place is supported by
the fact that a date was mentioned on the outside wall of the temple as well. Another ritual that
likely took place was the new year’s festival, celebrated at the start of the new calender year.
This is supported by the zodiac ceiling in the wabet and the existence of the new year’s court
preceding the wabet. In this ritual the god statue would be carried to the roof to receive sunlight
to recharge for the new year. A set of stairs can be see on the groundplan, which supports this act
being carried out in this temple as well (de Meyer and Minas-Nerpel 2013, 150-155).
Shenhur was probably built by locals and functioned as a place for travelers to ask for protection
on their travels on the eastern travel routes. This temple therefore had a religious purpose rather
than a political one, although it is not impossible politics were involved to some extend with any
temple that was built in this period. It was important for the Romans to control the people of this
province, especially in a region that was important to them for mining and trading, so it is likely a
level of control was also applied to a region such as Shenhur.
From a global perspective
Taffeh
The temples of the Nubian construction program were based on the design of new kingdom
temples, which was a popular design with the Greeks as well as with the Romans. It may seem as if
the temples were built in an Egyptian style to please the Egyptian population and building in this
style may have indeed made it easier for the Egyptians to accept these temples as legitimate
religious structures. At the same time this was a Greek/Roman choice and therefore reflects the
Graeco-Roman culture just as much as the Egyptian one. (Schneider 1979, 11-95; Raven 1996, 43)
This is an example of the world becoming seen as one place, one of the characteristics of
globalisation according to Hodos. Cultures starting to define their own characteristics and