Tod Attractions
The village of Tod, the ancient Egyptian Djerti and Graeco-Roman Tuphium, lies on the east bank of the Nile 12.5mi/20km south of Luxor. It contains the picturesque remains of a large temple of the Ptolemaic and Roman Imperial periods dedicated to the war god Month.
History
There seems to have been a temple here as early as the reign of Userkaf (Fifth Dynasty). It was rebuilt during the Middle Kingdom, in the reigns of Mentuhotep II and III (11th Dynasty) and Sesostris I (12th Dynasty), and thereafter embellished and much enlarged during the New Kingdom, in the reigns of Tuthmosis III and Amenophis II (18th Dynasty), Sethos I (19th Dynasty), the 19th Dynasty usurper Amenmesses, and Ramesses II and IV (20th Dynasty). Ptolemy VIII Euergetes II added a further temple and a sacred lake. In the vicinity was a kiosk of the Roman period, and just outside the temple precinct were Roman baths.
History
There seems to have been a temple here as early as the reign of Userkaf (Fifth Dynasty). It was rebuilt during the Middle Kingdom, in the reigns of Mentuhotep II and III (11th Dynasty) and Sesostris I (12th Dynasty), and thereafter embellished and much enlarged during the New Kingdom, in the reigns of Tuthmosis III and Amenophis II (18th Dynasty), Sethos I (19th Dynasty), the 19th Dynasty usurper Amenmesses, and Ramesses II and IV (20th Dynasty). Ptolemy VIII Euergetes II added a further temple and a sacred lake. In the vicinity was a kiosk of the Roman period, and just outside the temple precinct were Roman baths.
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Bucheum
North of Armant, on the edge of the desert, was found the Bucheum, the local counterpart of the Serapeum of Memphis. This was the burial place of the Buchis bulls sacred to Month, which were interred here from the time of Nectanebo II to the reign of Diocletian. The associated burial place of the sacred cows, the "mothers of the Buchis bulls", was also found.
Ptolemaic Temple
Much of the Ptolemaic temple was later used as dwelling houses, and a Coptic church was built on the site, so that in the course of the centuries the original structure has been considerably altered. The remains still visible include a wall, the stumps of four columns belonging to a colonnade of the Roman period, part of another colonnade and a chapel of the Theban goddess Tenenet, with a storeroom for the temple treasures.
Ruins of the 12th Dynasty Temple
In the ruins of the 12th Dynasty temple was found the "Treasure of Amenemhet II", a hoard of costly gold and silver articles and finely wrought metal utensils contained in four copper chests, most of them votive gifts from Mesopotamia. They are now in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo and the Louvre in Paris.
