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The sanctuary is the most sacred part of the temple. It is located at the rear of the temple, furthest
from the entrance. It stood on the temple’s main axis. Sanctuaries usually held a shrine containing
the statue of the god. The sanctuary was only accessible to the king and highest ranked priests.
Divine images, often represented in gold, the mythological flesh of the gods, were present in the
sanctuary. The inner areas of the temples have a higher floor and lower ceiling, making the place
better protected from the outside world, while at the same time representing the mound of
creation. A procession would go through all stages of creation (Wilkinson, 70;
www.metmuseum.org, accessed on 27-3-2019; Málek and Baines 1981, 64).
The sanctuary is undecorated in the temple of Dendur. Aldred mentions the west wall of a ‘usual
Egyptian temple’ would have a podium for a statue or boat shrine. In the temple of Dendur
however a stela is carved in the west wall. Aldred describes it to be in the form of a double shrine
with the cornice of cobras bearing sun disks on their heads. Within the stela is a relief. The scene is
interpreted by Aldred as Pihor worshipping Isis, who is seated. Below this is another scene that is
partially destroyed. He interprets this scene as Pedesi worshipping Osiris. He recognises Osiris by
his tall crown with feathers and his title that can still be read in the damaged description. Stelae
are not very common in temples, but do however occur in ancient Egyptian tombs. This temple is
said to have functioned as both a temple and a tomb, a mortuary temple. Therefore it is not too
strange that a stela is present instead of the usual podium. Aldred does not mention this however,
he only describes the presence of the stela as uncommon (Aldred 1978, 57-61).
All ancient Egyptian tombs contained stelae. These were slabs of stone on which words of magic
power were carved or written. They were either built into the walls or placed against them and
came in various shapes and sizes. They could have a variety of purposes (Katan and Mintz 1992,
16).
Funerary stelae always showed either the deceased receiving offerings or an offering formula. In
ancient Egypt it was common for a person to make contracts during their lifetime with priests and
relations concerning offerings being brought to the tomb after death. Many stelae therefore
showed the family of the deceased making offerings (Katan and Mintz 1992, 17-18; Málek and
Baines 1981, 62-63).
A certain kind of prayer concerning the king was often written on tombs, coffins and stelae. This
involved the king offering to the gods so that the god would provide the deceased with everything
he needed in his afterlife. In later periods it was common for the deceased to be depicted in