Behbeit el-Hagara - Temple of Isis Reliefs

The reliefs, all dating from the time of Nectanebo I and II (both 30th Dynasty), Ptolemy II Philadelphus and Ptolemy III Euergetes I, are of high quality far superior to those in the Graeco-Roman temples of Upper Egypt. One of them makes it possible to identify the position of the sanctuary. It depicts the King offering incense before the sacred barque of Isis, in a form otherwise preserved only in bronze. The boat resembles a two storied house; above, the goddess, with the cow's horns and solar disc, seated on a lotus flower and flanked by two winged goddesses. To the west of this, near the original entrance, is a large slab of gray granite veined with red on which the King is depicted offering a gift of land to Osiris and Isis. To the