The Beginning and House of God. Sacred Architecture and Decoration of the Cultic Center of Eliopoulos

With a surface area of 90 hectares, the sun temple of Heliopolis is the largest temple of Pharonian Egypt. Because of the location within and below the modern metropolis of Cairo, there are many gaps in knowledge and what is known is mainly based on antique objects such as the large number of obelisks in Rome. Its importance as a cultural centre of Egypt is above all based on the notion that the creation of the world is linked to the formation of the state and both are located in Heliopolis. The consequence is 2,400 years of continuous investment in power and how the place has come to represent Egypt in the perception of its neighbours.

Since 2012, a joint Egyptian-German project has been operating in the temple area and has been able to gain new insights, particularly on the form of the sanctuary of the fourth century BC. The project is also linked to the DFG Research Training Group ‘Cultural and Technological Significance of Historic Buildings’, with Max Beiersdorf’s project studying the walls surrounding the temple.