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Introduction
In this paper I will be studying the architectural features and decoration of three case studies: the
temple of Taffeh, the temple of Dendur and the temple of Shenhur. The three temples are all
Roman-Egyptian temples built during the reign of emperor Augustus, who reigned between 31 BC
and 14 AD. What I mean by ‘Roman-Egyptian temple’ is a temple built in Egypt during the Roman
period, the period in which Egypt was a Roman province, which lasted from 31 BC until 395 AD.
Emperor Augustus was the first Roman emperor to rule over Egypt and functioned as pharaoh
during his rule. The Romans were not the first foreign rulers in Egypt. The Romans took over after
the Greeks in 31 BC and the Greeks in turn had taken over from the Persians in 332 BC (Aldred
1978; de Meyer and Minas-Nerpel 2012; M. Raven 1996; Altenmüller et al. 2007, 291; Lange 1972,
204).
The purpose of my study will be to give a new interpretation to the three temples using a relatively
new perspective, the globalisation theory, to see if it is possible to learn something new about
archaeological material that has already been studied by using a different perspective. With my
interpretation I will try to find out how the temples functioned in the period in which they were
built and what they meant to the society that they were a part of. By using the globalisation
perspective as a theoretical framework for my study I hope to create a better understanding of
these temples. For this thesis I will be using the following research question:
What new insights can I gain from studying the architectural and decorational features of the
Taffeh temple, the temple of Dendur and the temple of Shenhur and interpreting them using the
globalisation theory as a theoretical framework?
In order to answer this I will use the following sub-questions:
1. What does an interpretation based on the architectural and decorational features of the temple
of Taffeh, the temple of Dendur and the temple of Shenhur look like when using the globalisation
perspective as a theoretical framework?
2. What can I learn from comparing the interpretations of these three temples?