Temple of Horus, Edfu

Edfu survived because it disappeared. Silt and desert sand covered it to the height of the pylons, a village grew on top, and it stayed that way until Auguste Mariette cleared it in the 1860s. What came out was a Ptolemaic temple essentially intact: pylons, courtyard, hypostyle halls, sanctuary, and the roof over all of it.

The reliefs on the inner walls include the complete text of the Festival of the Beautiful Meeting, and the sanctuary still holds the granite shrine and a replica of the sacred barque.