Download The First Cataract region during the Late Antiquity Era The

The First Cataract region during the Late Antiquity Era
The Architectural Language of the Metropolitan region and the
Corresponding Religious Transition
Prof. Yasser Mansoor, professor of architecture
Head of architecture department, Ain Shams University
Architect Rasha Said Abdel Latif
MSc. Ain Shams University
Abstract
The first cataract region had always occupied a special position in Egypt. In late antiquity (3rd
century A.D -7th century A.D), the first cataract region was not only the southern Egyptian
frontier but the Roman Empire’s. The first cataract was interregional, it housed mixed
population of the region: Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, Blemmyes and Noubades.
In the era of the transition between the Roman empire and the middle ages; Christianization
was the dominant feature, but the first cataract region has a history of resisting the various
waves of religion that swept across Egypt due to its geographical remoteness, it was one of the
last areas to be affected by Christianity. Wither the term “Pagan survival “is an accurate term or
not, the temples and their transformations can show glimpses of what was happening in a
metropolitan zone when the world was becoming gradually Christian.
This paper will use the interpretation of the changing architectural language of the temples
under the multiple complex factors to present a comparative analysis of the Philae complex and
the Kalabsha Temple.
Key words:
Syene, Elephantine, Philae, Nubia, Kalabsha, Christianity, Ancient Egyptian religion