We were back to my dear Spain again !! love it !! We came by car of course and took time to see new areas and old repeat with some of them as introduction to my sons and our dog Rex ! I rented a small house in a off the beaten path country town that was just perfect ! I like to continue the saga of our new road warrior experiences even if now with less in our family, This post is on my latest road warrior tour of wonderful sublime Spain. Therefore, let me tell you about the Temple of Debod of Madrid, part III !!! Hope you enjoy the post as I.
This Temple of Debod is located in the parque del Oeste and more precisely in the parque de la montaña (where an old Civil War hq was ). Today visitors and younger generation flock to the temple to see the history of the Egyptian monument without realising the sacrifice that was done here. I know, I have taken my boys several times as well as beauty and history are a great lesson, I was parked nearby and walking with my sons and our dog Rex we went by it again, sublime views and history ,architecture to boot. There are 8 hectares of gardens so that one could sit and admire the magnificence of the Temple of Debod, The Debod Mausoleum, which is more than 2,000 years old, was rescued from the waters of Aswan Dam by a group of Spanish archaeologists. They brought back every stone and rebuilt it in its present location. It was set on the remains of Cuartel de la Montaña, retaining the orientation to the sun it had at its place of origin. From here, the famous Manzanares cornice, with the Royal Palace, Casa de Campo and, possibly, the most beautiful sunsets in Madrid, can be seen.
Originally, this monument stood in the Nile Valley, some 31 km from Aswan. It was built in the 2nd century BC. But following a rise in water that threatened this part of the city, the temple was dismantled stone by stone between 1969 and 1970. The Egyptian government then decided to offer it to Spain. Indeed Spain helped the Egyptians to save the monuments of the Aswan valley at the time of the construction of the dam. The stones of the temple were in fact transported by boat to Valencia before then transporting them by train to Madrid.
You must see inside the Capilla de Adijalamani or of the Reliefs. It is the oldest part of the temple and one of the favorite rooms of visitors. It has kept its original state and contains a representation of King Adijalamani worshiping the deities and making offerings. It has scenes that represent the king adoring the gods and offering sacrifices. The motifs are related to the cult of the gods in the area and link to the sacred monarchy. In it’s chapel you have the god Amon de Debod that received the cult with other divinities such as Isis, Hathor, Osiris, Horus, Apset, Mut, Satis, Anukis, and Horajty. Imhotep occupies a priviledge site in the access to the chapel. You then, come to the room of Mammisi. The word Coptic signify “place of birth” and makes the point of the room where the goddess of the temple gave birth and celebrating the mystery of the divine birth.
There are other rooms below, these are: The Vestibule ,decorated with Augusto and Tiberian today mostly erase due to the last earthquake of the 19C and stealing. The antechamber de Naos, small room that allows you to wandered in the 3 chapels ,here the only light entered the temple that reach the main Chapel as above and the Naos. The room of Naoi, or central chapel has the only naos preserved. it is in ptolemic style and dedicated to gods Isis and Amon de Debod. The south hallway on which in it’s wall you see a solar clock. The Osiris chapel, relics of Osiris, in the terrace . It is a roofed chapel in the terrace of the sanctuary as in Egyptian temples. It was done to stop the rain water to entered the god Osiris that was not beneficial. The Terrace, this is the place where important ceremonies were held, especially the ritual of the new year. The karma of the god Ra combine with the divine statues of the temple that were taken to.
In the terraces of the Temple of Debod you find several blocks these are: The blocks of Apedemak, this is a monument that has three horizontal lines with ancient lettering texts divided by a ankh (symbol of eternal life) entitled Adijalamani. In one of the lines you have the epitaph well like of Apedemak referring to the king been Apedemak the principal god of the temple. You see the stalls in stone of a Lion and a Greek urinerium; it is very damaged but on the laterals you have an urinerium with the feet back of the lion. Difficult to understand today. The Crypts, one of the few ptolemic temples that had crypts open in the Chapels. The main one is the treasure crypt that opens to the chapel of Mahesa , where the statues of the gods were kept. The other was probably a laboratory where the perfumes of the divinities were kept; this one, opens to the inferior chapel of Osiris.the terrace by priests the night before the Egyptian new year. The headroom Chapels, on each side of the Chapel of Naos you have two Chapels attributed to Osiris and Mahesa. The Uabet, the purification site of the priests of the temple. Opens its doors to the Vestibule. this area was damaged when the archeologist that worked here in the 20C saw it. You see several graffiti’s in the temple. Thanks to these graffiti’s we know the temple was visited by Barbarians, nomads or semi nomads that later could have been converted into a Christian Church or refuges of hermits. In the Muslim period it was ,also, occupied and was visited from the West. Amongst the graffiti’s in the Debod , it is found caravans and herds of camels, gazelles, a boat with oars, Coptic crosses, accounting symbols, Greek inscriptions, also Coptic, Arabic (religious characters),and several signatures from travelers!
The Madrid tourist office on the Temple of Debod: https://www.esmadrid.com/en/tourist-information/templo-de-debod
The specialised city of Madrid site Memories of Madrid on the Temple of Debod :
http://templodedebod.memoriademadrid.es/eng/index.html
There you go folks , another wonderful nostalgic, sentimental trip to my dear Spain, A love affairs with my Madrid, as do not know when we will be back, we sure will have this trip in our hearts forever, Again, hope you enjoy this post on the Temple of Debod of Madrid, part III !!! as I
And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all !!!
Paris1972-Versailles2003 