Where is the Temple of Dendur in New York?

The stone blocks of the Temple of Dendur weighed more than 800 tons. They were numbered, packed in 661 crates and loaded onto the S. S. Concordia Star for the long trip by sea from Egypt to the USA.

American newspapers held a competition on where to put the temple when the stones arrived. Lots of people wanted it rebuilt on the banks of the River Potomac in Washington D.C. or the Charles River in Boston. The temple had stood in the open air in Egypt but the climate was different there and scientists said the sandstone blocks would be damaged if it was rebuilt outside.

It was decided to rebuild it in a museum. But which one? There had to be enough space to display it well and it needed to fit in with other exhibits.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York was chosen because it already had lots of Egyptian pieces and there was space to build a new wing. In 1967 the temple was given to the Met.

The stone blocks were stored under tarpaulins while money for the new wing was raised.

The new wing has a sloping wall that represents the cliffs by the Nile and a reflecting pool to remind people of the original river setting.

There is a glass ceiling and north wall looking out to modern New York.

The temple was rebuilt stone by stone and opened to the public in 1978.

 

 

 

 

 

When Roman Caesar Augustus first built the temple, artists painted the sandstone in beautiful colours.

Not much colour is left now, but the Temple of Dendur is very special and each year thousands of people visit the Met to see it.

It may be the only Egyptian temple outside of Egypt where visitors can walk inside and around it.

Would you like to go to New York one day and see the Temple of Dendur at the Met?

 

• Who built the temple and why?
• What did the temple look like?
• How did the temple get to the USA?
• Where is the Temple of Dendur in New York?