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The reconstruction
During the fourth century AD the temple underwent reconstructions. The current facade is a result
of these reconstructions. During the eighth century the temple was converted into a church and
underwent more reconstructions (Schneider 1979, 94).
The area in which the Taffeh temple was located was under Roman rule until 289 AD. After this it
was controlled by the Blemmeys and the Nomads, two nomadic groups from the dessert. This
means that the reconstruction took place when the valley of Taphis, in which the temple was
located, was under the rule of the Blemmeys. In the year 395 AD Egypt became part of the
eastern-Roman, or Byzantine kingdom. Christianity was the only religion in this kingdom, which
means Egypt became Christian as well. Rome had already become entirely Christian since 383 AD.
In the period that Egypt became part of the Byzantine kingdom the temple of Taffeh was changed
into a church (Schneider 1979, 12; 105-106).
The fact that the Taffeh temple was no longer under Roman Rule from 289 AD means I will not be
using any changes made to the temple after that period, I will only focus on the initial construction
phase. These changes include the graffiti that was added to the temple, most likely from the fourth
century onwards, the reconstruction that took place around the fourth century AD and any
reconstructions that happened during the Christian period. Because of the reconstructions that
took place it might be hard to determine which parts of the temple are original and which are not,
making it hard to determine what the temple looked like in the original construction phase. To
determine this I will have to rely on research done by previous researchers, as I do not have the
resources to research this myself (Raven 1999, 87-88; Schneider 1979, 94-100).
Description of the Taffeh temple
The Taffeh temple exists of only one Room, a hall filled with 4 columns inside and 2 columns
forming the entrance. The front of the temple has one large central door and one smaller door on
the right. On the other side of the central door a solid wall panel is located. The front side the
temple, the facade, was facing south at its original location. To make an interpretation of the
function of the Taffeh temple I will first take a closer look at the decoration and architecture
(Schneider 1979, 12).