The Habu Temple (Ramses III Temple) they used to call it the Temple of the United with Eternal in Luxor is considered one of the greatest temples of the Twenty Dynasty built by King Ramses III to establish funerary rites for him and to worship the idol Amon, the temple consists of a great entrance surrounded by two towers, on these towers inscriptions representing the arms of the family and pictures Ramesses the Third, and the upper floors of these two towers were dedicated to the royal harem, this temple is considered the most luxurious of the temples furniture and engraving, and the statue of (Amun) was decorated with precious stones, on the walls of the temple we find valuable inscriptions, a scene depicting the maritime victory over the tribes of the peoples of the sea (the Shardana), and scenes Others represent the maritime campaign against the Libyans, as we see some deities carrying royal kinship offerings to the god Amun in the temple.
It was built at the beginning of the reign of King Ramses III as a funerary temple. And he supervised the construction of the temple “Amon Miss”, the treasurer of the Temple of Amun. The first half of the contemporary designation of the temple refers to the Christian city that was built inside the walls of the temple. Some suggest that the word Habu refers to Amenhotep, son of Habu, Minister of Amenhotep the Third. There is also a belief that this designation is due to the Christian priest, who resided in this spot after that.
This temple is considered one of the largest funerary temples dedicated to the memorialization of kings in the era of the New Kingdom. With an area of approximately 320 meters in length from east to west and 200 meters in width from north to south, it is considered the only fortified temple, and it is most likely that it was constructed in two phases, as the first stage includes the construction of the temple and its annexes within a rectangular fence. The second stage began most of the time in the second half of the reign of King Ramses III. In this period, the outer wall was constructed with its two large gates fortified in both the east and the west. Between the two fences in the north and south, the homes of priests and those in charge of the temple were built between the two walls.
Medinet Habu Temple is organized in an organized manner. In the temple Surin, an inner wall and the other outside, and outside the wall of the temple there is the marina for ships. When entering the temple from the entrance to the southeastern side; It is a gate that was adjacent to it from the sides, two guard rooms, to reach what is called the high Ramses III gate. It is a unique building in Egypt, and Ramses III ordered its construction in the style of the Syrian castles known as “Majdal”. It consists of two towers with balconies with a gate in between and it is the entrance.
The walls of the temple were decorated with the military achievements of King Ramses II and his wars, especially against the peoples of the sea. Also included are engravings and fees for celebrations of the deities. The city of Habo also includes several important temples, including the Temple of Amun and the Temple of I and Horemheb. The Medinet Habu Temple is the most impressive of the western temples. It was built at the beginning of the reign of King Ramses III as a funerary temple. And he supervised the construction of the temple “Amon Miss”, the treasurer of the Temple of Amun. The first half of the contemporary designation of the temple refers to the Christian city that was built inside the walls of the temple. Some suggest that the word Habu refers to Amenhotep, son of Habu, Minister of Amenhotep the Third. There is also a belief that this designation is due to the Christian priest, who was residing in this spot after that.
The architects of King Ramses III were able to construct the outer wall, which includes inside the Eighteenth Dynasty Temple, and they also set up a marina for ships in front of the fortified entrance on the eastern side, and they excavated the sacred lake, and this may apply to the text that Ramses III recorded in the “Harris Papyrus” on the Temple Habu City “I have built a great temple for millions of years. Khaled Imam, on top of the mountain of the Master of Life, is constructed of sandstone, black granite, and its gates of gold and copper. And its constellations of stone reach the sky, decorated and carved in the name of his majesty, and a wall was built around it, and a lake was dug in front of it overflowing with the eternal water “Nun”, planted with trees and vegetables similar to the delta. “
The area of the temple was depicted as is followed in most of the Egyptian temples with huge pictures of mud brick with a height of 17.7 meters, preceded by other pictures which are a stone wall with balconies reaching a height of 3.9 meters. The photos have taken right angles in the northeastern and southern corners. The eastern and similar parts in the northwest and south were curved.
We find, after the scheduled from the north, a temple dating back to the age of the eighteenth dynasty. Then the princesses’ shortcomings dating back to the Twenty-fifth Dynasty; And the twenty-sixth. On the other side is the sacred lake. The outer wall contained a temple belonging to the Eighteenth Dynasty, and then the princesses’ cottages inside the sanctuary of the temple. The purpose of building the temple was not only the temple for the king; Rather, it is a temple to God. That is, the idea of millions of years exists in the Temple of Ramses III.
It depicts the paintings and reliefs painted on the outer walls of the gate. From the usual scenery that most of the kings of the modern state became famous for, there are scenes representing King Ramesses the Third striking the Asians on the northern façade of the gate “on the right side of the entrance”. In front of the god Ra Hor, my sister, the Lord of the city of Heliopolis, as an example for the north, and the king strikes the Asian prisoners also in front of the god, Amon Ra, a kind lord, representing the south on the south facade on the left side of the entrance to the temple.
In the corridor between the two towers, there are two black granite statues of the goddess Sekhmet, represented by a lioness’s head. Some of the scenes and drawings recorded on the walls were photographed north and south on the walls of the two towers. On the north wall there are scenes of King Ramesses the Third as he releases incense and performs the purification ritual in front of the “Set” machine and the goddess “Nut”. As we find another scene of King Ramses as he leads the Asian prisoners to the machine “Amun”. Either on the south wall, to the left of the entrance, we find scenes representing King Ramses III with “Amon Ra my sister” and the goddess “Maat” and another view of the king as he leads the Libyan and Asian prisoners to “Amun”.
There are several scenes of the king in his religious relations with the gods and goddesses, and it is also worth noting when passing through this gate that we see the stereoscopic view on both sides, which represents four heads of independent foreign prisoners on their faces with the relief inscribed on the wall below the window on both sides. As for the interior and unique views of ancient Egyptian art, they represent the king with his family in a family meeting. We can also assume the content desired by the deceased in the other world, as it represents the worldly goods that the king desires to be blessed with in the other world. These scenes may also indicate that Ramses III was to come to this place from time to time to enjoy the comfort of his family.
After we leave the huge gate, we reach a large courtyard. At the end, we find the first edifice, and it is believed that it was preceded by another edifice of mud bricks, of which there are only ruins indicating the quality and height of this edifice up to 24,45 meters, and a width of 68 meters, and its facades are adorned with four gaps that were designated for media masts, which were fixed with wooden stretchers Copper stands out from the windows at the top of the pylon.
There is another entrance on the northern side of the edifice that leads to a ladder that leads to the top of the edifice. On the right side, we see King Ramses III, in the red crown, along with the “Elka” wife, beating heads of prisoners in front of the god Ra Hor my sister, who stands behind the god Anubis. Then we see on the south tower, on the left side, King Ramses III, in the white crown, with his wife, “Elka”, beating the captives heads again before the god “Amun.”
These are beside the various warlike and religious texts and the traditional scenes that represent the king in his various relations with the gods and goddesses. What is worth noting on the right wall is the scene that represents King Ramesses the Third while kneeling in front of the sacred tree followed by both the god Jahti and the goddess “Sashahat” to record the name of the king on the leaves of the tree The Holy One before God Amun and God Ptah.
On the northern side, on the right side, we find rows of seven columns in the shape of Ramses III in his Osirian image, and next to the legs of a small statue of some members of his family. As we see behind these columns, the king is performing different religious rituals in front of each of the gods “Sekhmet” and “Amun” “Pope of my sister”, this is beside the scenes that represent the king and accompany the holders of royal fans and followers, followed by two rows of brackets. We also see the king receiving the Syrian prisoners, and one of the Egyptian princes and the king brought them to him as he presented his captives to the Trinity of Thebes, and the king in his war wheel accompanied by a pet lion, who runs beside him, attacking a city and paying its arrows to it.
On the south side, we see a mural depicting another group of columns with eight papyrus pans with open crowns, and behind it we find the facade of Ramses III Palace and the so-called window of transfiguration or appearance, which is the balcony where the king appeared to follow what is happening in the temple. Below this balcony is a prominent pillar of enemy heads and some scenes of dancers, wrestlers and stick players. The palace is connected to the temple through three entrances.
When heading to the western façade, we find that the second edifice stands as the back wall of this courtyard and we reach it through an ascending road. As for the northern wing of this edifice, it is covered with historical texts that mention Ramses III’s victory over the peoples of the north in the eighth year of his rule. The southern side depicts the scenes of the king as he presents a group of prisoners of the sea peoples to the gods “Amun” and “death”.
The second courtyard of the Medinet Habu Temple is approximately 42 meters long and 38 meters wide. It was used as a church in the Coptic era, and this courtyard was characterized by the presence of columns on each side, and the system of northern columns and southern columns differs from the ranks of the eastern and western columns, so if the roofs of the northern and southern columns are formed on one row of the papyrus pans with crowns on the right only four and on the left five masts .
And the roof of the front pillars of the east is built on a row of the eight columns of the Osiris, while the western columns, which are the background, depend on two rows, the front of which is made up of eight columns of Osirism, followed by a row of eight buds of buds, and its extension reaches the back rows with a staircase between one of two rivers and was bordered by On the right and the left, two large statues of Ramses III remain, only the two bases remain.
The scenes inscribed on the walls of this courtyard are the special scenes of the celebration of the god Ptah Sucre, and we find it depicted on the upper part of the southern tower of the second edifice and continues on the south wall of this courtyard, so we see a start from the procession of the god Ptah Sukker, which is represented by two rows of priests carrying boats The Holy and the symbols of the god Sucre and some small statues, while the king stands behind them and with his followers, and if we head to the south wall we see the priests carrying the symbol of the god “Nefertm” son of the god Ptah. We see another scene that represents the king and with him the priests, and they carry the compound of the god “Ptah Suker” and the king follows it, and finally we find the traditional scenes that represent the king in his various religious relations with the gods and goddesses. Then, under these scenes, on the wall of the south tower, we see traditional scenes of prisoners led by King Ramses III. As for the southern wall, it records the text of the details of the Libyan wars that King Ramses III fought in the fifth year of his rule.
As for the scenes of the celebration of the god “Maine”, we find them depicted on the north wall and the northeastern wall of this courtyard. They are taken from the scenes on the walls of the similar courtyard in the Ramsium Temple. Perhaps the most important sight is the sight that represents the king, carried on a stretcher and next to him a lion, a lion on the shoulders of princes and senior officials. Then the king launches incense and cleanses in front of the statue of God Min, then the king follows him, statue of God Min carrying on the shoulders of priests and with him pregnant
What are the scenes of the celebration of the god “Maine”? We find it depicted on the northern wall and the northeastern wall of this courtyard. It is taken from the scenes on the walls of the similar courtyard in the Ramsium Temple. Perhaps the most important sight is the sight that represents the king, carried on a stretcher and next to him a lion, a lion on the shoulders of princes and senior officials. Then the king releases incense and cleanses in front of the statue of God Min, then the king follows him, statue of God Min, carried on the shoulders of the priests and with him carrying fans. Finally, we reach the scene in which four birds are released to bear the news of the celebration to the four pillars of the “four original sides” of the globe.
The scenes on the back wall of this courtyard depict the traditional scenes depicting King Ramses III in his various religious relations with the gods and goddesses, in addition to the scenes depicting the sons and daughters of King Ramses III.
The first hall of the masters is destroyed, and this may be due to the earthquake that occurred in 27 BC, and the ceiling of this hall had 24 columns in the form of papyrus blossom. It consists of 6 rows, on the fact that the masters that were mediating this hall were larger and may be higher than the rest of the masters, and thus the ceiling of this hall, as was followed during the Ramesside era, was of two levels so that the middle rises from a side, and it occupies the space between the masts. From the stone allow light to enter.
The remaining remnants of these masters are no more than two or two courses, and perhaps the most important view on the walls of this hall is next to the traditional scenes that represent the king in his various relations with the gods and goddesses the scenes that are on the walls from the left side of the interior to the south wall and which represents King Ramses III It introduces many different pots to the Theban Triad.
The three fleet halls of the Medinet Habu Temple are located on the axis of the temple and follow one another. The last legend hall is characterized by three entrances, an entrance in the center to connect to the sanctuary of the Holy of Holies of the boat of the god Amon, the second entrance connects to the compartment of the boat of the god Khonsu and the third entrance connects to the compartment of the boat of the goddess Mut The sanctification of the Holies at the Medinet Habu Temple is the part of the “Holy Trinity of Thebes” surrounded by many rooms of different shapes and axes, some of which are specific to the gods and goddesses. Others are devoted to the requirements of the temple that were used in the rituals and religious rituals of the temple, and the rituals that benefited the deceased king during his trip to the afterlife.
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