The Temple of Dendur

The Temple of Dendur, completed by 10 B.C.E. (Roman Period, Egypt), Aeolian sandstone (The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York)
speakers: Dr. Elizabeth Macaulay and Dr. Beth Harris

[@thinktoomuchb4028]

While coming to grips with how certain artifacts were acquired, this is a wonderful example of cooperation. Thank you!

[@martijnkeisers5900]

I am from the Netherlands and did not know how the Taffeh temple ended up in the city of Leiden. Now I do! Thank you.

[@sherryzimmerman9220]

As always Excellent Scholarship….,and should be shared with all ages……please continue this platform for all who understand we must continue to study the past so as to learn how to project ourselves in the future….

[@cartograp]

I love the projection of possible color onto the monument! It's not easy to balance respecting a piece of history without changing it and giving the public an idea of what something like this would have been like when it was built.

[@manetho5134]

As an Egyptian I wish that the Temples were just moved away from the water like Abu Simbel, there was value in them being in Egypt along the banks of the the Nile

[@manetho5134]

@@mariaquin4344 I'm not mad that they are not in Egypt, they were given away legally and they belong to you fair and square, and surely I won't be against sharing the artefacts of the wondrous ancient Egyptians, its a world heritage and their achievements must be admired by all humaninty since it is part of our whole collective past, I just shared my opinion that a certain aspect of the temples were lost with them being transferred, but for the sake of putting a smile on the faces of Spanish Egyptologist youngsters I believe its all worth it😍

[@ryshellso526]

Muslims seem to enjoy destroying your history... we had to take your things so they don't get destroyed...

[@oliviabb73849]

Everything about this is amazing, right down telling us about Emperor Augustus. Absolutely amazing! I’m blown away.

[@tommywolfe2706]

When I was a kid.....around 35 years ago, I got to go to a museum in Chicago (forget which one) that had not only an entire Egyptian temple reconstructed inside, but also (at the time) the worlds oldest discovered wooden boat, found in the sand in Egypt, and also a few actual Golden mummy masks. It was incredible and I can still remember walking through the hallway through the exhibit and seeing everything on display. I did google it, but we are talking almost 4 decades ago. Its not likely the same anymore. edit: I think it was the field museum and it may have been a tomb, not a temple. But it was very, VERY similar to what is in this video.

[@chewie1644]

Field museum and it’s all still there

[@hansspiegl8684]

Great video - thank you! And congratulations to New York: you have this authentic Egyptian temple, and have not stolen it, like the most museums all over the world.

[@daveyost1567]

Love learning the back story as well as seeing this beautiful monument!

[@christianfrommuslim]

Thank you ladies! I have seen the temple in the Met but was not aware of how it got there. Great to have the backstory!

[@Magnum3144]

WOW, I got the pleasure of seeing this in person back in 1998 but had no idea the extent of it history and what it took to get here. Amazing.

[@victorianidetch]

Nicely done, what a labor of love to have the temple moved here and not destroyed.

[@nsbd90now]

That was amazing about Augustus-as-Pharaoh.

[@jameslong6329]

I saw this Temple when I visited the Metropolitan Museum in 2016, on a break from rehearsal with the Community Luthern Choir for a Concert at Carnegie Hall!!!🎶❤️

[@RuyaROzer]

Wonderful documentaries, I appreciate your time and effort to educate us all.

[@hydra5758]

If I were the Met, I would've marked a rut in the floor to indicate the past traditional distance of the Temple from the Nile.

[@lauraskonce3502]

I'll be sharing this with my 6th graders next week.

[@saayamsingh3620]

This is a wonderful channel❤

[@kacperwoch4368]

2:02 This is not even an exhaustive list of nations that were involved. Polish archeologists worked on a site of ancient Faras in 1961-1964 in Sudan right on the border with Egypt where they were able to recover Nubian early christian art and wall paintings, many of which are now on display in a museum in Warsaw.

[@cheyennem9218]

So fascinating and timely! I've just been reading the debate around the recent effort to restore Egypt's Menkaure pyramid and a lot of people on the side of restoration cited these preserved monuments that were at risk of flooding. Great video as usual!

[@yj9032]

I’m from India and many ancient Buddhist sites were submerged when the Nagarjuna sagar dam was constructed in south India. No one came to our aid 😢

[@NorthForkFisherman]

True, but not everything was lost either. Relocated to an island and the mainland village of Anupu, many of these temples survive in their native land.

[@serebii666]

It was India's choice not to allow these temples to be relocated. They had started archeological works under R Subrahmanyam especially at Nagarjunakonda, but India's pace of developing these irrigation dams destroyed even their own archeologist's attempts at documenting the sites. What was saved from the flooding waters is displayed in museums near the site.

[@MrSullismom]

Did India ask for help??

[@NiceButBites]

This is honestly such a fantastic video, please do more on ancient Egyptian art and sites!! 😃

[@john6100]

Saw it last year. Was such a pleasure, but I wished they used the projections to lay over some translations of the hieroglyphs so the public can get a sense of the direct context for themselves

[@yourmum69_420]

I've been to the temple of Debod in Spain which is beautiful at sunset

[@colinchampollion4420]

I also been there as well just stunning😮!

[@puddinggeek4623]

Excellent video as always. Very interesting and informative. Keep up the great work.

[@hassanmohammad2750]

I love this account

[@neon-kitty]

The capital shapes are also tell-tale signs of the temple belonging to the Graeco-Roman era. These types of capitals (called composite capitals but unrelated to the composite capitals of classical architecture) developed either just before the Ptolemaic period or early on in the Ptolemaic period and became increasingly popular within the following centuries. Of course, in terms of their appearance they still feel very Egyptian (and they may well have been invented by native Egyptian artisans and architects) but you won't find them in earlier Egyptian temples.

[@knightshade6232]

Wow my country philippines though poor also supportted,,, im hopping to get some discounts for our egypt tour!

[@tessat338]

Egyptian grain was crucial to the survival of the Roman Empire. The security of the grain shipments or the threat of holding them back was a major part of the power of the Caesars and their political allies and rivals.

[@ryshellso526]

Silk road would like a word with you...

[@tessat338]

@@ryshellso526 The Silk Road provided luxuries to the Roman Empire. The grain fields of the Nile provided a significant percentage of the calories of the daily diet of the population of the city of Rome.

[@odynhros]

brings tears to my eyes..

[@edgarsnake2857]

Nice video. When I was on the Nile by the high dam it was disconcerting to look into the water and see that we were going past totally submerged temples.

[@buddhapunkz]

나는 여기에 있었고 직접 보는 것이 놀랍습니다. Dendur 사원의 역사와 이것이 뉴욕 시에서 어떻게 마무리되었는지 공유해 주셔서 감사합니다.

[@jsmcguireIII]

No irony in the fact that these dams ended the seasonal floods of the Nile that were the FOUNDATION and sustained the Egyptian Empire for almost 3,000 years.

[@Theodisc]

A flash of irritative castigational chastisement came over me driving to want to demand why and how this Egyptian relic was installed in the Met *until* I actually *waited* and heard you *explain* why and how this ancient -artifice - ial*- was installed in the Met. So, in this case, Bravo! the Met. And thank you SH for recounting us another fascinating hi/story 💙🧿 addendum: checking myself here, I actually meant to write * *edifice-ial.*

[@Sasha0927]

"...the story of how it got here is a really interesting question." Yeah, I bet! 😂 The Met has temples in it?! The explanation of what the temple is actually for was interesting. I did imagine it being a place for gathering worshippers, but it's more like the Tabernacle Israelites had. The note at the end still intrigues me: even if we knew all there was to know about what this meant to Egyptians and Romans, what *would* the implications be for us in the 21st century? I look forward to seeing where the answers to our questions lead us.

[@RugMann]

Im glad that they at least were all to partially preserve the temple even though much of it was likely lost or destroyed by water

[@zefsam]

Glad to see a professional interaction between countries which all are able to appreciate the importance of these artifacts. But most importantly I’m glad they were not STOLEN! Like many other items in history

[@RugMann]

This stuff makes me want to cry. So incredibly frustrating

[@TravelClast]

so beautiful and so well explained.

[@michaelpjeffries1521]

A lot more than saving antiquities could benefit from that level of international attention and cooperation. It is possible. Doomed if not.

[@SevenUnwokenDreams]

Oh I have to go see it

[@runnerfromjupiter]

That was awesome

[@YusssoM]

Jawdropping video. What a great narration and presentation of pictures. Who are you guys??

[@smarthistory-art-history]

Thank you, you can find out more about us here: smarthistory.org/

[@ShengTheCraftsman]

wow, never knew Malaysia also helped with the ancient structures rescues

[@forthrightgambitia1032]

It reminds me a lot of the Temple of Debod that you can visit in Madrid.

[@smarthistory-art-history]

Yes, we reference the Temple of Debod in the video starting about 1:58.

[@andrewking9454]

Somehow I missed it when I went to the MET. Very upset rn.

[@javiercastro8466]

I did see it, but I did not know how it got there, so I actually appreciate it more now than when I was there!

[@vincentmancini6279]

Thank you for presenting this. It should be noted that Arthur M. Sackler(the Sackler Foundation that built and furnished the Oriental Museum at the Smithsonian, underground!) had much to do with the having the temple at the Museum including get architect Pei to design the structure which houses the temple. By the way, Doctor Sackler prior to all this had a room built at the museum dedicated to his parents and furnished the room completely with part of his oriental collection. Check it out it is outstanding!!

[@true_ai]

He also helped cause the opioid crisis.

[@smarthistory-art-history]

Two important notes, the Sackler's name has been removed by The Met and Kevin Roche and John Dinkeloo were the architects, not I.M. Pei.

[@stevesmith4901]

this was so cool

[@ArtMarketExplained]

5:29 lovely lovely color 💖

[@danthiel8623]

Wow that’s interesting

[@slrsouth64]

I have a picture of me in front of this from 30 years ago. I had no idea all the information behind it

[@aaron1983]

Hope they had GPS so they know exactly where it was located. Bravo humankind!

[@doncarlodivargas5497]

It had been really funny to try to explain to any of the crafts men, (and women?) building the temple i could see it on youtube some thousand years later, i wonder if they had understood what i told them

[@annenyman678]

Jackie Kennedy really wanted the temple to be in Washington as a tribute to her husband, but she didn’t prevail.

[@ecurewitz]

I was wonder how it got to New York. I’m just glad it wasn’t by looting

[@stephenlight647]

It’s still looting, just a very genteel version. Ok, poor people, shame about your need to flood a valley for electricity and flood control. Hey, rather than us trying to save it for you in EGYPT, how about we just buy it and take it off your hands? You know, for the VIRTUE of it!

[@ryshellso526]

Listen to these women... isis cult...

[@janetmckenzie146]

And there is a large pool of water in front of the gate, perhaps alluding to its rescue from the floods.

[@jusufagung]

Indonesia keeps some of the Egyptian temples? I never see those anywhere. Where are those artifacts kept? Are they lost?

[@nathanmagnuson2589]

The Roman period didnt end in 395. It ended in 640. Great presentation!

[@wyldebill4178]

Dang wedding was being set up around there when I went

[@PaulyWally30]

Does it lose value or authenticity since they had taken it apart?

[@Jamarkus_Delvonte]

They put a building within a building.

[@PaulADAigle]

Next to that display, they should build a copy as close to how it is expected to have been. That way we could see the full thing as it was originally, but not ruin the original's actual truth.

[@Batalia122]

FYI, its covered in graffiti from the 1800s and earlier. Tourists would carve their names into the sides of the temple before it was moved to the MET.

[@nbarnes6225]

At least it was given and not taken. *ahem* (britishmuseum)

[@stiannobelisto573]

"Saved" from destruction by barbarians

[@jandrews6254]

Thank you to the BM for saving the Babylonian lamassu from being turned into roadbase by religious fundamentalists, and for preserving the Elgin Marbles from being destroyed by smog and tourists. Now these treasures can be seen and admired and studied, copied and perhaps returned if they will be safe

[@nbarnes6225]

@@jandrews6254 "perhaps returned if".... could not have explained the present ethical problems more concisely. Well done.

[@nathanielscreativecollecti6392]

You should cover the Kirtland Temple in Ohio sometime.

[@smarthistory-art-history]

We will keep that in mind, thank you.

[@Poldoha]

Me thinking that it was moved to NYC in one piece 😮

[@ChiefRxcka]

In...credible

[@astralshore]

I have visited the temple of Taffeh in The Netherlands. Beautiful, but even with this relatively unproblematic chain of custody, I’m not sure how I feel about this. They were never meant to be here, I think. Strongly tied to place. I’m not sure I wouldn’t rather have seen them submerged. Everything is temporary. But then again: at least Egypt got to make the call and it’s not up to me. Doesn’t mean I have to feel good about it though.

[@matthiasstrunz1343]

And germany… they where the once who acutally moved the temples…hochtief

[@serebii666]

Hochtief did not move all the temples. They did however move the Abu Simbel complex, that is true.

[@lkhlkhlkhfghjtv1]

So this is where all the oxy money went

[@smarthistory-art-history]

Yes, well, some, not all of it. The Met removed the Sackler name from these galleries a few years ago.

[@empathogen75]

Also this was built 20 years before OxyContin. At the time, the pain killer they were selling was called MS contin, which was a slow release morphine and much less potent.

[@f3f0r4f4]

I think this is theft with the excuse of flood. I love museums, but why at that time there was not a commotion to move temples to another corn of Egypt far from flood instead of ship part by part to Europe? Like the Europeans was angels from heaven?

[@smarthistory-art-history]

It was a gift. To ignore that this was Egypt's prerogative is to demean that nation's autonomy.

[@f3f0r4f4]

@@serebii666 Who are you? Are you a danish who stole indian treasuries over the centuries? Are you a german who stole ishitar gate pretending this would be destroyed by persians? Who are you?