<P> Temple - building continued into the third century AD, but as the empire weakened, imperial donations to the temple cults dried up . Cult activities continued, relying increasingly on financial support and volunteer labor from surrounding communities . In the following centuries, Christian emperors issued decrees that were increasingly hostile to pagan cults and temples . Some Christians attacked and destroyed temples, as in the plundering of the Serapeum and other temples in Alexandria in AD 391 or 392 . Through some combination of Christian coercion and loss of funds, temples ceased to function at various times . The last temple cults died out in the fourth through sixth centuries AD, although locals may have venerated some sites long after the regular ceremonies there had ceased . </P> <P> Temples were built throughout Upper and Lower Egypt, as well as at Egyptian - controlled oases in the Libyan Desert as far west as Siwa, and at outposts in the Sinai Peninsula such as Timna . In periods when Egypt dominated Nubia, Egyptian rulers also built temples there, as far south as Jebel Barkal . Most Egyptian towns had a temple, but in some cases, as with mortuary temples or the temples in Nubia, the temple was a new foundation on previously empty land . The exact site of a temple was often chosen for religious reasons; it might, for example, be the mythical birthplace or burial place of a god . The temple axis might also be designed to align with locations of religious significance, such as the site of a neighboring temple or the rising place of the sun or particular stars . The Great Temple of Abu Simbel, for instance, is aligned so that twice a year the rising sun illuminates the statues of the gods in its innermost room . Most temples were aligned toward the Nile with an axis running roughly east--west . </P> <P> An elaborate series of foundation rituals preceded construction . A further set of rituals followed the temple's completion, dedicating it to its patron god . These rites were conducted, at least in theory, by the king as part of his religious duties; indeed, in Egyptian belief all temple construction was symbolically his work . In reality, it was the work of hundreds of his subjects, conscripted in the corvée system . The construction process for a new temple, or a major addition to an existing one, could last years or decades . </P> <P> The use of stone in Egyptian temples emphasized their purpose as eternal houses for the gods and set them apart from buildings for the use of mortals, which were built of mudbrick . Early temples were built of brick and other perishable materials, and most of the outlying buildings in temple enclosures remained brick - built throughout Egyptian history . The main stones used in temple construction were limestone and sandstone, which are common in Egypt; stones that are harder and more difficult to carve, such as granite, were used in smaller amounts for individual elements like obelisks . The stone to build a temple might be quarried nearby or shipped on the Nile from quarries elsewhere . </P>

What were some features of ancient egyptian temples