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ultimately done to make sure the empire would not fall into chaos due to a lack of governing and
loyalty, leading to a weaker control over the population and a high chance of rebellions (Aldred
1978, 52).
In Shenhur the decoration on the outside walls of the temple represents scenes related to Min.
This was the god of fertility, also related to protection, and the god that protected the trade routes
this temple was located at. The decoration is likely a religious act and not necessarily a political
decision from the Romans. It is possible traders truly believed in the protection of this god and
therefore worshipped him here. Depictions of the raising of the pole ceremony that can be found
on the outside walls of the temple are quite rare. This scene was only depicted in three temples
from the Roman period, of which Shenhur was one.
Shenhur is the only example where a date for the ritual was given. This is evidence that the ritual
was actually carried out and not just depicted for symbolic reasons. All the temples with this
depiction are located near popular roads from the Roman period into the eastern and western
desserts, where popular cities such as Edfu, Dendera and Thebes were located. Shenhur is located
at the crossroads with an eastern desert road (de Meyer and Minas-Nerpel 2013, 150-159; de
Meyer and Minas-Nerpel 2012, 2).
The depiction of the zodiacs cannot be found in Dendur or Taffeh. It is related to the celebration of
the new year’s rite. The depictions of the raising of the pole ceremony show the temple must have
been located on an important spot when it was built. This could be related to the two cults of
Koptos and Thebes located nearby and/or the red sea port to, located in close proximity to
Shenhur and the place to which the trade routes Shenhur was located at lead. Also the mining
activities near Koptos performed by the Romans could have made the region popular in the period
of the reign of emperor Augustus (Huxley 1985, 75-77; 127; de Meyer and Minas-Nerpel 2013,
150-159).