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exchanging these with each other are a result of the increased interaction that takes place in a
globalised world (Hodos 2017, 4; Hodos 2014, 244).
Dendur
The reason the Roman emperor cared about the event of the princes drowning in the river and
gifted the temple to honour them was because the Blemmey lord was loyal to the Romans. The
Romans depended on the local lords to govern Egypt as a province as they could not control the
entire empire by themselves. Therefore the loyalty of such lords was very important to them. It
was therefore a political move ultimately meant to keep control over the empire (Aldred 1978, 30-
32).
This is a result of the process of increasing interaction between cultures due to the expansion of
the Roman empire and the defining of cultures and their characteristics as a result. Because these
different cultures with different cultural backgrounds were now part of one empire the Roman
empire it became important to establish certain political strategies to keep the empire under
control (Hodos 2017, 4; Hodos 2014, 244).
Shenhur
The reason this region became popular with the Romans was because of a few reasons. First of all
Shenhur was located between two major cult sites, Koptos and Thebes. Especially Koptos was
influential in Shenhur because of its popularity during the Roman period. The popularity of Koptos
was related to the mining activities that took place in this area as well as the trade that occurred in
the red sea port located nearby. As Min was the protector of the Eastern trade routes he was likely
an important god in this region. In Shenhur this can be seen in the decoration on the temple
dedicated to him (de Meyer and Minas-Nerpel 2012, 4).
The reason the Koptos area became popular during the Roman period was related to the increased
connectivity caused by the growth of the Roman empire to a global level. The increase in trade and
the extraction of materials from this region are both related to this process. Both were important
factors in the establishment of the temple of Shenhur (Hodos 2017, 4; Hodos 2014, 244).