Places › Museums outside Egypt › Rijksmuseum van Oudheden, Leiden
Temple of Taffeh, Leiden
Monument at Rijksmuseum van Oudheden, Leiden · also called Tempel van Taffeh, Taffeh Temple, Temple of Taphis, Egyptian temple Leiden
The Temple of Taffeh in the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden has no hieroglyphic inscriptions: its walls were never carved with Egyptian texts. The writing on it is a Greek inscription on the rear wall, small Christian crosses and travellers' names, and the decoration is winged sun discs and cobras over the doors.
Signs to look for
- Erect cobra I12 The rearing cobra over the doors is the uraeus, also a sign in royal and divine names.
- Sun N5rꜥ The sun disc between the wings is the sign for Ra and for 'sun' in texts upstairs.
- Seat Q1st The seat writes Isis, the goddess the temple was probably built for. Find her name on stelae and coffins in the Egypt galleries.
The story of Temple of Taffeh, Leiden
It was built in the reign of Augustus near the Roman fort of Taphis in Lower Nubia, and the builders never finished decorating it. A niche in the rear wall probably held a statue of Isis, and a flower or palm branch linked to her was added to a capital by the entrance. The building was enlarged in the third century AD and its front remodelled later. Around the end of the fourth century her cult there ended.
A monumental inscription records its consecration as a church in 710 AD by Merkourios, king of Makuria. A side door was cut, the walls were plastered and painted with saints, and Christian services went on there for some six hundred years. Egypt gave the temple to the Netherlands for its part in the Nubian rescue campaign. It reached Rotterdam in January 1971 and Princess Beatrix opened it in Leiden on 4 April 1979.
What to see and read
Greek inscription on the rear wall
A text of the second half of the fourth century AD recording repairs, paid for by a local ruler who is named in it.
Winged sun discs and cobras
Over the doorways, a sun disc with wings and a row of rearing cobras guard the sanctuary. They are the same shapes as signs in carved texts.
Crosses and graffiti
Small crosses scratched by Christian worshippers, and visitors' names such as Andrea Didino's of 1818, below the main lintel.
Reading the hieroglyphs here
- Walk round to the rear wall for the Greek inscription, and look under the main lintel for the 1818 name.
- A light show is projected on the front at set times. Look at the stone itself between showings, when the carved capitals are easier to see.
- For hieroglyphs to read, go up to the Egyptian galleries after the temple.
Hiero Lens boxes the signs and names them, on your phone; nothing is uploaded. On worn stone, trace a sign over the photo.
Questions
Why is there an Egyptian temple in Leiden?
Before the Aswan High Dam flooded Lower Nubia, UNESCO asked other countries to help save its monuments. The Netherlands took part, and Egypt thanked it with this temple.
How old is the Temple of Taffeh?
It was built under Augustus, who ruled Egypt from 30 BC to AD 14. Later centuries changed its front and turned it into a church.
Which goddess was the Temple of Taffeh for?
Most likely Isis, though no text on the walls names her. The clues are the statue niche and the flower added to a capital by the door.
Where it is
- Temple
- Museum
Open in OpenStreetMap · Written from published sources and not yet checked on site by our team: displays and open tombs change.