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Visit the most historical places of
Egypt and see an exhibition of photographs showing the
different historical places.
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Vestibule
and Central Tomb Chamber
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| These are the main chambers. They are
lit by a single electric light bulb that throws the
chamber into green, a perfect staging for that composite
art. In the center of the facade, the familiar solar
disk is carved below frieze of serpents. Left and right
are two serpents wearing the crowns of upper and lower
Egypt. These are not the lithe cobras of Saqqara or
Thebes. They seemed to be designed as modern book comics.
In the Tomb Chamber, the dead lies on a lion-shaped
bier attended by Horus, Thoth, Anubis, and other familiar
funerary deities and funerary equipment : Canopic jars,
the priest in his panther skin, and the king making
an offering to the deceased in the form of Osiris. These
figures are rendered in Greco-Roman style. To the traditional
scenes are added bunches of grapes, Medusa heads, and
a variety of Greek and Roman decorative devices. |
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| The approach path to the temple is between
two Roman fountains that end at the massive entry gate.The
enclosure walls are mud-brick and date to the Roman
era. Within the walls are the temple, two birth houses,
a Coptic Basilica, a sanitorium, a sacred lake, and
a temple to Isis. The temple has a long history. There
is evidence that Pepi I (Old Kingdom) rebuilt the temple
while other texts refer to reconditioning by Thutmose
III, Amenhotep III and Ramesses II and III (of the New
Kingdom). Additions were made during the Greek, Roman
and Ptolemy periods. |
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Location :
Kom Ombo, Egypt
Description :
Located in the town of Kom-ombo,
about 28 miles north of Aswan,
the Temple, dating to the Ptolemies, is built on a
high dune overlooking the Nile. The actual temple
was started by Ptolemy VI Philometor in the early
second century BC. Ptolemy XIII built the outer
and inner hypostyle halls. The outer enclosure wall
and part of the court were built by Augustus sometime
after 30 BC, and are mostly gone. There are
also tombs from the Old Kingdom in the vicinity of
Kom-ombo
village.
The Temple known as Kom Ombo is actually
two temples consisting of a Temple to Sobek and a
Temple of Haroeris. In ancient times, sacred
crocodiles basked in the sun on the river bank near
here. The Temple has scant remains, due first to the
changing Nile, then the Copts who once used it as
a church, and finally by builders who used the stones
for new buildings.
Everything is duplicated along the main
axis. There are two entrances, two courts, two
colonades, two hypostyle halls and two sanctuaries.
There were probably even two sets of priests. The
left, or northern side is dedicated to Haroeris (sometimes
called Harer, Horus the Elder) who was the falcon
headed sky god and the right to Sobek (the corcodile
headed god). The two gods are accompanied by
their families. They include Haroeris'
wife named Tesentnefert, meaning the good sister and
his son, Panebtawy. Sobeck likewise is accompanied
by his consort, Hathor and son, Khonsu.
Foundations are all that are left of the
original Pylon. Beyond the Pylon, there was
once a staircase in the court that lead to a roof
terrace. The court has a columned portico and
central altar. There is a scene of the King
leaving his palace escorted by standards. Near the
sanctuary is a purification scene. On either
side of the door to the pronaos are columns inscribed
with icons of the lotus (south) and papyrus (north),
symbolizing the 'two lands' of Egypt.
In the southwest corner of the pronaos
is the one column that does not echo the duality of
the temples. Here, there are scenes depicting
purification of the King, his coronation and his consecration
of the Temple. The ceiling has astronomical
images.
The hypostyle hall has papyrus capitals
on the columns. Here, there is an inventory
of the scared places of Egypt, the gods of the main
towns and the local and national festivals.
In the anti chamber, there are scenes
depicting the goddess Seshat launching the building
of the temple, followed by a scene of the completed
temple with the king throwing natron in a purification
ceremony. The staircase leading to the roof
is all that remains of the offering hall.
Statues to the gods and the builders of
the temple once occupied the net room just before
the sanctuaries. The ceiling of the pure place
to the north still remains with an image of Nut.
There is little left of the sanctuaries.
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| The Temple
of Luxor
was the center of the most important one, the festival
of Opet. Built largely by Amenhotep III and Ramesses
II, it appears that the temple's purpose was for a suitable
setting for the rituals of the festival. The festival
itself was to reconcile the human aspect of the ruler
with the divine office. During the 18th Dynasty the
festival lasted eleven Days, but had grown to twenty-seven
Days by the reign of Ramesses III in the 20th Dynasty.
At that time the festival included the distribution
of over 11,000 loaves of bread, 85 cakes and 385 jars
of beer. The procession of images of the current royal
family began at Karnak and ended at the Temple
of Luxor.
By the late 18th Dynasty the journey was being made
by barge, on the Nile River. Each god or goddess was
carried in a separate barge that was towed by smaller
boats. Large crowds consisting of soldiers, dancers,
musicians and high ranking officials accompanied the
barge by walking along the banks of the river. During
the festival the people were allowed to ask favors of
the statues of the kings or to the images of the gods
that were on the barges. Once at the temple, the king
and his priests entered the back chambers. There, the
king and his ka (the divine essence of each king, created
at his birth) were merged, the king being transformed
into a divine being. The crowd outside, anxiously awaiting
the transformed king, would cheer wildly at his re-emergence.
This solidified the ritual and made the king a god.
The festival was the backbone of the pharaoh's government.
In this way could a usurper or one not of the same bloodline
become ruler over Egypt. |
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Sun
Temple of Ramesses II
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The main temple was dedicated to Ramesses
II and to the four universal gods Ptah, Re-Harakhte,
Amun-Re, and to Ramesses II himself. Of the seven
temples he built, Abu
Simbel is considered to be the most impressive.
The facade of the main temple is 108 feet
high and 125 feet wide with four colossal seated statues
about 65 feet high wearing the double crown and having
the cartouches of Ramesses II. They are taller than
the colossi of Memnon at Thebes and are carved out
of solid rock. At the feet of the calossus, beginning
on the left are Queen Nofretari, Prince Amenhirkhopshef,
the Kings mother Muttuya, Princess Bent'anta, unnamed,
but probably Esenofre, Princess Nebettawy, Queen Muttuya,
Princess Nofretari, Princess Merytamun, Princess Beketmut,
Prince Ri'amsese, and Queen Nofretari, who where all
members of Ramesses II's family. (Editor's Note :
We wonder if Ramesses II bribed his kids to make good
grades. Bring home an A and I'll put you in my new
Colossus.)
Above the doorway in a niche stands the
sun god, a falcon headed representation of Ramesses,
holding a war-scepter which shows the head and neck
of an animal which is read as user, in his right and
a figure of Ma'at in his left. This cleverly creates
the Kings throne name of User-Ma'at-Re. At the top
of the facade is a row of baboons which are thought
to be greeting the morning sun and indeed the monument
looks best at that time. The sides of the thrones
next to the entrance are decorated with Nile gods
symbolically uniting Egypt, while below are prisoners,
representing conquered nations, to the left, African
and to the right, Asian.
The entrance leads into a Grand Hall which
is 57 feet high and 52 feet wide and was cut from
the rock. It is supported with eight pillars with
statues of Ramesses. The statues on the north side
of the hall wear the double crown, while those on
the south the white crown of upper Egypt. Just as
other temples in Egypt, the floor and ceiling taper
off to draw focus to the sanctuaries in the back of
the temple. The reliefs on the north wall of the Grand
Hall show scenes from the Battle of Kadesh. Other
walls depict the king slaughtering captives in front
of the gods Amun-Re and Re-Harakhte, and storming
a fortress with his three sons.
To either side of the Grand Hall are smaller
rooms, two to the South and four to the North. Most
suggest that these rooms were for storage (treasure
rooms) but elsewhere it is suggested that they were
used for festivals related to the Kings Jubilee.
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Beyond the Grand Hall is the second hypostyle
hall with its flowered pillars. Scenes in this hall
show the King and his wife, Nefertari making offerings
to Amun and Re-Harakhte (the Sun God), and beyond
that is the three chapels, the central one containing
the four deities worshipped in the temple (including
Ramesses II). A Solstices occurs twice a year on or
about February 20-22nd and October 20-22nd when the
rays from the sun enter the front of the temple and
bathe the statues of the Gods 200 feet inside the
temple with light. Interestingly enough, all but Ptah,
the source of Chthonian life.
On either side of the Facade are two small
chapels. At the Southeast corner of the facade there
are three stelae. One of these is called the Marriage
Stela and documents the marriage of Ramesses II to
the daughter of the King of the Hittites. (Editors
Note : The question is, what did she look like? Did
Ramesses consider this a heroic deed?) On the other
side of the Facade is the Sun Chapel, an open court
dedicated to the sun. Here, there are pillars with
cavetto cornices. The one with steps held four praying
baboons, the other a chapel with images of Khepri
and Baboon-Thoth. The latter is now in the Antiquities
Museum in Cairo.
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Nefertari's
Temple of Hathor (Abu Simbel - Small Temple)
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Hathor was the wife of the Sun God so
in a symbolic way, the two Temples, that of Ramesses
II and that of Nefertari, brings Ramesses II and Nefertari
and Hathor and the Sun God together as one. The facade
of the temple is a receding Pylon, just as the larger
temple of Ramesses II. On either side of the entrance
to the temple are a deified statue of Nefertari with
statues of Ramesses II on either side of her. The
statues of Nefertari are the same height as those
of Ramesses, which is unusual. Like at Ramesses II's
temple, there are children depicted around their feet.
There are cobras protecting the Temple door.
This temple is much simpler than the Temple
of Re-Herakhte. It has only one hypostyle hall and
the sanctuary. Within the hall are images of Ramesses
in battle with Nefertari present. Other scenes depict
Ramesses being crowned by Horus and Seith and presenting
Ma'at to Amun. On the back wall, Nefertari is before
Hathor and Mut. Just behind the Hypostyle Hall is
a small chamber with images of Hathor cow framed in
reeds. Beyond that is the sanctuary with a divine
cow emerging from the rear rock wall protecting Ramesses,
below her. Above the cow, vultures guard the Queens
cartouches. Other scenes show Nefertari offering incense
to Mut and Hathor, and the King worshipping before
his own image and that of Nefertari
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