Constructing, Remaking and Dismantling Sacred Landscapes in Lower Egypt from the Late Dynastic to the Early Medieval Period

A ship in the Grand Canal at Thonis-Heracleion, a great temple shrine and a column from Alexandria each offer a different glimpse of Egypt’s sacred landscape. Ports and temples were never separate from the cities around them: ritual, trade and political authority helped determine where people gathered, what they built and what they preserved. Edited by Damian Robinson and Franck Goddio, this collection follows such places across the changing religious worlds of Lower Egypt.

The essays examine the Caesarium at Alexandria, the cults of Amun-Gereb and Osiris at Thonis-Heracleion, magic and ritual at Kom Wasit, and the use of temple treasury weights. Objects, buildings and urban spaces are considered together, revealing how religious landscapes could be made, adapted and dismantled over time. The book is rooted in close archaeological and historical studies rather than a single sweeping account of Egyptian religion.