The Door to Wisdom is Ajar!

O Djehuty, convey me to Khmun,
Your town where life is pleasing;
Supply my needs of bread and beer,
And guard my mouth (in) speaking!
If only I had Djehuty behind me tomorrow,
"Come!" They would say;
I enter in before the lords,
I leave as one who is justified.
You great dum-palm of sixty cubits,
On which there are nuts;
There are kernels in the nuts,
There is water in the kernels.
You who bring water (from) afar,
Come, rescue me, the silent;
O Djehuty, you well that is sweet
To a man who thirsts in the desert!
It is sealed to him who finds words,
It is open to the silent;
Comes the silent, he finds the well,
(To) the heated man you are [hidden].

The Temple of Djehuty probably goes far back into history. The settlement has inscriptions from teh 4th Dynasty at least and it´s likely there was a temple at that time. The two giant baboon statues which now stand by the Open Air Museum.

During the New Kingdom, the temple underwent many additions and changes. Both Horemheb and Ramesses II constructed pylonIs there, inside the Ramesside one, was found over 1500 decorated blocks which came from the dismantled AkhenAten temples at Akhet-Aten. In front of this pylon were two colossal statues of Ramesses II as well as two granite sphinxes. There were also obelisks and stelae so that the entrance must have looked awesome.

In the 30th Dynasty Nectanebo rebuilt the temple and it became the largest one among several inside the enclosed city of Khmunu, measuring 55 by 110 meters and a huge pronaos added too.

Within the temple area is another, smaller temple dedicated to Amun and another one to the spouse of Djehuty at this place: Nehmetawy, who is also a creator deity. This building was 15.75 by 31.5 meters.

Djehuty (Gr: Thoth) appeared both as a baboon crowned with the moon disc and as an ibis-headed man. He was the patron deity of all scribes, and at Khmunu he had his cult center where wisdom, healing and the scribal arts were revered. At the Greeks equalled their god Hermes with Djehuty, the town reached popularity in the Late Period.

City author: Mirjam Nebet

Sources: The Complete Temples of Ancient Egypt - Richard H. Wilkinson
Cultural Atlas of Ancient Egypt - John Baines & Jaromir Malek
Image courtecy of G. Homann
Touregypt
Egyptsites