Temple Of Alexander The Great

About Alexander the Great

Alexander the Great was a great ruler from Macedonia where he was born, he came to life in 356 B.C from two amazing people, King Philip II and Queen Olympias. Alexander the Great worked hard and became one of the greatest military minds in the world when he started ruling Macedonia and Persia and established his own empire. He was a very special ruler as he was charismatic, brilliant, ruthless, diplomatic, and power-hungry, all these qualities built a great loyalty from his men to follow him everywhere with trust and admiration as a role model.

Alexander was influenced by the Greek and Asian culture which helped him create a totally new historical epoch called the Hellenistic Period.

Alexander the Great did his best to achieve his dream of uniting a new realm but he died before that in June, 323 BCE at Babylon, Iraq.

The temple location 

The temple of Alexander the Great has been located in a very special spot in Egypt, he chooses the Bahariya Oasis in the Western Desert to be his temple land.

This location is about three miles east of the old capital of Egypt. This temple was the only temple in Egypt made for Macedonian ruler, it was built in Alexander’s lifetime and was dedicated to the gods Amun and Horus.

The temple history 

The temple of Alexander the Great was constructed by Amasis in the 26th dynasty for the worship of god Amun Re, this is during the Alexander expeditions in the Western Desert. He passed by the Bahariya Oasis and loved the place so he decided to build his temple here and to get buried in his beloved country, Egypt.

So the temple was built to commemorate Alexander’s passing on his way to Siwa and to be the only temple dedicated to gods Amun and Horus made by a Macedonian ruler.

Alexander arrived with his army in Memphis (the ancient Egypt) and decided to make an offering to the Apis bull then he owned the Egypt crown and named in a different name called “Setp n Ra Mery Amun” to suit the Egyptian throne.

This temple was discovered first by Ahmed Fakhry, they found the temple almost destroyed as the temple’s inscriptions had vanished. However, the experts did restoration efforts to rescue the rest of the temple. You can see inside the temple beautiful scenes representing Alexander the Great, as a King of Egypt while he is giving offerings to Amun, Horus, and Isis in the traditional positions. This will give you a great knowledge about this era.

The temple design 

Let’s have a quick journey inside the temple of Alexander the Great. This temple has at least 45 chambers that were built with mud bricks and the rooms embedded in sandstone. Outside the temple you can find a red granite altar that you can’t find anywhere else in the oases.

The temple is surrounded by reserves and additional houses as the old emperor used to be surrounded by guards and priests. So you will find a building in  the east side of the temple that used for administrative purposes

In a very near location you can find The Valley of the Golden Mummies which is only three meters away from our temple.

Just next to the entrance to Alexander’s temple, you will find a special scene that  shows the lower half of two people facing each other. The experts predict that one of them is Alexander the Great as he dressed like a traditional Egyptian pharaoh to fit into his new ruling.

In addition, you can find some relief in the temple, some of these reliefs still retain their original colors and show Alexander while he offers two ships.

Alexander the Great Temple is one of the greatest places to visit in Egypt, you will get the chance to discover the Greek civilization and especially regarding architecture art. The greatness of Alexander the Great appears very clear in his temple at Oasis in the Western Desert of Egypt.

Don’t hesitate, start booking your trip now and let the adventure begin.