The Chapels of Khonsu

New Edition of rooms J and K (the so-called "chapelles lunaires")

As part of his Heisenberg project, Andreas Pries explores the ubiquity of the Horus myth, its outreach to the cults of other deities, and the theological integration of new themes. The decoration and cult function of the rear chapels dedicated to the god Khonsu in the Great Temple of Horus at Edfu is one of several case studies. In addition to his Heisenberg funding, A. Pries has also received the DFG grant "Complete edition of the cult chambers of the god Chons (rooms J and K) in the Temple of Horus at Edfu - graphic implementation, collation work, and supplementary photography" with 140,000 EUR.

The intended philological and also pictorial scientific processing of the inscriptions and representations of the two chambers in Edfu represents a further important stage on the long path, begun in 1892, of the scientific development of one of the most important temples of Egypt and, next to Dendara, probably the largest "library of stone". Due to the thematic diversity and the special nature of the decoration in these rooms, the research will not only shed light on the theology and the cult of the god Khonsu in the context of the Edfu temple, but will also, among many other aspects of the Egyptian conception of the world and the divine, further deepen the theme of the legitimation of rulership based on the Horus myth, which is one of the unifying core questions of the Heisenberg projects. The results are to be presented in the form of a monographic study, which, in addition to a text documentation that has been further improved compared to the already revised edition, will for the first time also offer a photographic documentation that meets today's scholarly standards. It will present the illustrations in conjunction with the texts and maintain the given unity of text and image. In addition to the intended book publication, the digital documentation of the rooms will also be made available online and in open access.

After the completion of the Khonsu chapels within the framework of the Heisenberg Program, the complete edition of the three Osiris cult chambers shall follow. Thus, together with the results of the ongoing Würzburg project on the sanctuary and mesenit  of the temple and the edition project on the chamber of Min, which was started at the same time under the direction of Carolina Teotino-Tattko, a considerable part of the central cult area of the temple would already be available in complete editions.