Near the western edge of Lake Qarun in the Fayoum,
Qasr Qarun marks the location of the ancient town of Dionysias, now located
near the modern village of Qarun. During ancient times, it was the beginning
(or end) of the caravan route to the Bahariya Oasis, and thus, of some
importance. The town was cleared by a Franco-Swiss archaeological team in the
19401s and 1950s and an epigraphic survey was conducted in 1976, but has since
been the subject of several restorations projects.
The town is spread out north and south and is mostly
in ruins save for a few structures that are worth mentioning. The Roman bath is
a mere outline on the ground as are most of the houses, but a few still sand,
at least partially. Some even have fresco decorations on the interior walls. The
most noteworthy of these is located just east of the Roman fortress. Thermal
baths with frescoes were discovered here in 1948, but the desert has long since
reclaimed them.
The Temples
Here, we also find a most interesting temple dedicated
to Sobek-Re, that is sometimes referred to as the "Temple of Stone",
located in the middle of the ancient town. It dates to between 323 and 330 BC
during the Ptolemaic period, but has not been dated more precisely due to the
absence of inscriptions.
The temple is made of blocks of yellow limestone and
is substantially complete. The exterior of the temple was partially restored by
the Egyptian Antiquities Service, and parts of the internal structure have been
reinforced.
One of the most interesting aspects of this temple is
that its roof is still place, offering us a sense of the atmosphere that once
prevailed in all the temples of the Western Desert. The exterior, minus its
damaged portico, looks like a square box, but this is deceiving. The interior
of the temple is a labyrinth of rooms, stairways, corridors, cellars, tunnels
and upper rooms of all sizes at different levels, and nooks and crannies
complex enough to have caused early travelers into believing it to be the real
labyrinth at the Hawara Pyramid. Specifically, there are fourteen rooms on
either side of central corridor that leads to three chapels.
There are vestibules, a sanctuary and a few additional
chambers. There is also a stairway to the roof which is worth the climb for the
splendid view. There is also a smaller temple was constructed mainly from
mudbrick and dates to the Roman Period. The temple was dedicated to the
crocodile god, Sobek-Re. The interior contains Ionic columns. Only the square
core of the structure has survived and most of the outlying buildings are now
destroyed.