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Fig. 12 False door/niche in the back wall (www.google.maps.com)
Both in Roman and in ancient Egyptian temples there were special places for common people to
commune with the god or make offerings as they were not allowed inside the temple, or the
sacred parts of the temple. Therefore constructing places where common people could commune
with the gods outside of the sacred parts of the temple, such as hearing chapels and false doors,
was not strange to either the Roman or the Egyptian culture (Wilkinson 2007, 71; Teeter 2011, 78-
79).
Outside the temple
The temple was built on a raised platform of six layers of blocks with a total height of 2,5 meters.
Another platform of 14.05 x 13.80 meters extended in front of the temple, starting 2.6 meters
south of the facade. The remains of at least one building were found on this platform (Raven 1996,
40-42; Schneider 1979, 92-103).
Schneider is of the opinion that, because of the platform it was build on, the Taffeh temple must
have dominated the surrounding buildings of priests and Roman soldiers in the valley of Taffeh.
Find in the area of the second platform suggest a religious structure may have been located there.
According to Raven this may have been part of the temple complex (Raven 1996, 43; Schneider
1979, 12; 92-95).