The Cultic Centre of the Sun-God of Heliopolis (Egypt)

太阳崇拜是三千年来古埃及宗教的核心元素，赫利奥波利斯站在它的中心——世界创造的地方和全国范围内的参考点。赫利奥波利斯的建筑布局和景观是很多人争论的话题。这些假设大多是基于非情境化的对象。此外，自2011年革命以来，赫利奥波利斯的局势已经严重恶化。大量的空间被非法建筑工程占用。在2012-2015年的第一阶段结束时，一个迄今为止未知的Nektanebo I.神庙在2015年春天被发现。对水泵进行了测试，以允许在地下水位以下1米处进行详细的挖掘和记录。此外，通过地球物理和地貌调查，还发现了石灰岩主庙的遗迹。此外，还发现了邪教地形的核心，一个晚更新世的gezira。太阳神庙的中心位于这里，正如Sesostris i的方尖碑所显示的那样。所谓的高沙泥砖堤防的重新定位导致了一种假设，即通过直径约400米的围栏来保护神圣的创造土地免受异常洪水的侵害。该任务将在2016-2019年集中在四个研究目标上：挖掘并研究迄今为止未知的公元前4世纪寺庙的碎片。这将为赫利奥波利斯本身的文本提供第一手证据，因为神庙通常被认为是法老埃及文本文化的中心。由于它是建在泥砖堤上的，所以浮雕在现在的地下水位下的深度很小。方尖碑以西至少30米长的神庙墙的定位，使得对神庙天文方向的第一次可靠调查成为可能，因为很明显，它与公元前2千年和1千年的大型围墙的方向不同。小型探测仪将提供该结构的年代。对西部泥砖堤防的地层学调查将允许对其建造日期进行重新评估，并通过2015年春季发现的重复使用的物体进一步了解避难所的早期历史。历史景观的重建是地貌学调查的主题。该项目的这一部分将重点关注太阳神庙后期区域的古景观和最早的地层。研究结果将由早期挖掘的未发表数据加以补充，随后将在地理信息系统中加以阐述和核实。各种方法的结合将说明该地区从神话可能形成的时期开始的过渡。神庙遗址的进一步发展将证明它是公元前三千年、二千年和公元前一千年埃及最著名的国家避难所。

The sun-cult was the central element of ancient Egyptian religion for more than three millennia, and Heliopolis stood at its centre - the place of the worlds creation and a country-wide reference point. The architectural layout and the landscape of Heliopolis are the topic of much debate. Most of these hypotheses are based on decontextualised objects. In addition, the situation in Heliopolis has deteriorated considerably after the revolution in 2011. Large space is being lost to illegal construction work. Towards the end of the first phase 2012-2015 a hitherto unknown temple of Nektanebo I. was discovered In spring 2015. Pumps were tested to allow detailed excavation and recording up to 1 m beneath the water table. In addition, remains of the main temple built of limestone were detected by the geophysical and geomorphological survey. Furthermore, the nucleus of the cult topography, a late Pleistocene gezira, was discovered. It is here that the centre of the sun-temple was located, as indicated by the obelisk of Sesostris I. The relocalisation of the mud-brick embankment of the so-called High sand led to the assumption of a measure to protect the sacred ground of creation against exceptional floods by an enclosure of about 400 m diametre.The mission will focus in 2016-2019 on four research targets: The fragments of the hitherto unknown temple of the 4th century BC will be unearthed and studied. This will provide first-hand evidence for texts from Heliopolis itself, as the temple is generally considered as a centre of the textual culture of Pharaonic Egypt. Since it was built on top of the mud-brick embankment, the reliefs are at little depth beneath the present water table. The localisation of a temple wall of min. 30 m length to the west of the obelisk allows for the first reliable investigation on the temples astronomical orientation since it is evident that it differs from the orientation of the large enclosure walls of the 2nd and 1st millennium BC. Small sondages will provide the dating of that structure. Stratigraphical investigations of the western mud-brick embankment will allow for a reassessment of the date of its construction as well as for further insights to the early history of the sanctuary by reused objects as they were found in spring 2015. The reconstruction of the historical landscape is the subject of the geomorphological survey. This part of the project will focus on the palaeo-landscape and the earliest strata in the later precinct of the sun-temple. The results will be supplemented by unpublished data from earlier excavations and subsequently elaborated and verified in a GIS. The combination of various methods will illustrate the transition of the area starting with periods when the mythology might have been formed. The further development of the temple site will prove the transformation into the most prominent national sanctuary of the 3rd, 2nd and earlier 1st millennium B.C. of Egypt.