Temple of Ramses III

Temple of Ramses III This small temple, designed and built in the lifetime of a single pharaoh, is a typical New Kingdom temple. It comprises an entrance pylon with two towers flanked by statues, a central doorwrav leading to an open court (surrounded by colonnades), and a covered terrace to the rear. From the terrace a doorway leads to the Hypostyle Hall that is roofed; the difference in height between the central and side columns is made up by square pillars which allow light into the otherwise darkened hall. Beyond lies the Sanctuary, or Holy of Holies, where the sacred statue of the god was kept. In this temple there were three sanctuaries,...

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The Monastery of Deir el Muharraq

The Monastery of Deir el Muharraq This monastery is situated about sixty-five kilometres south-west of Assiut and is best approached from al Qusia. It is the largest monastery in Upper Egypt, long known for its charitable work among the villagers. Unlike many desert monasteries that are totally isolated, Deir el Muharraq is located at the edge of the agricultural land; the monastery buildings are contained within a surrounding wall of irregular shape. Monastery of Deir el Muharraq Deir el Muharraq belongs to the group of monasteries founded by St Pachom (Aba Bakhum in Arabic) and his successors. Its history is not clear. According to tradition,...

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The Aswan Dam Facts

The Aswan Dam For thousands of years, leadership in Egypt has been associated with that great source of life the Nile. From the first pharaoh, Narmer (3100 BC), who traditionally diverted the river at Memphis, to Nektanebos (360 BC), the last Egyptian pharaoh, canals were cleared and irrigation projects were carried out. When the Persians conquered Egypt they repaired waterways. The Greeks reclaimed land. The Romans built aqueducts. The Mamluks constructed aqueducts and storage systems. Aswan Dam In 1842 the Mohamed Aly Barrage was built at the apex of the Delta north of Cairo. This first barrage was followed by others: at Aswan, Esna, and...

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The Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut (Deir el Bahri)

The Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut (Deir el Bahri) The mortuary temple of Hatshepsut is the most beautiful in the necropolis, and the queen herselfis one of the most colourful figures in ancient Egyptian history. She was the daughter of Thutmose I and the only one of his children of direct royal lineage, being the child of the Great Royal Wife, Queen Ahmose. Her two half- brothers were by lesser wives. However, Hatshepsut ruled concurrently with Thutmose II and his son, Thutmose III. Temple of Hatshepsut For half a century (c. 1500-1450 BC) there occurred what is usually regarded as a feud in the family of the Thutmosides: evidence of pharaonic...

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St Paul in Ancient Egypt

St Paul The first of the great persecutions started in the reign of Trajan Decius (249-251). The number of Egyptians who escaped to the deserts increased. Among them was St Paul, the Theban, a native Egyptian who spoke Greek only with the greatest difficulty (as distinct from the Hellenized Egyptians in Alexandria). He chose a remote site on the Red Sea coast, where he founded a hermitage. St Paul By this time thousands of ‘anchorites’ (derived from the Greek root ‘retire’ or ‘withdraw’) were either living alone or in small groups, isolated from one another. Slowly individual ascetics started to draw near to one another to look for guidance...

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Tomb of Sirenput II

Tomb of Sirenput II This tomb, belonging to the grandson of Sirenput I, who was a prince in the reigns of Amenemhet II and Senusert II, is one of the most well-preserved of the Middle Kingdom. It is entered through a courtyard leading to a narrow passage, an excavated hall with six elegant square undecorated columns, and a corridor with three recesses on each side, each containing a statue of the deceased sculpted from the living rock. Tomb of Sirenput II The small hall at the end of the corridor has four pillars and a recess at the rear. The condition of the reliefs in the recess is excellent, both the delicately worked hieroglyphics and...

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Mortuary Temple of Seti I (Kurna)

Mortuary Temple of Seti I (Kurna) This temple was built by Seti I in reverent memory of his father, Ramses I, w ho ruled for little more than a year, and, of course, for his own cult. It was completed by his son, Ramses II. Only the rear part of the temple survives, but it contains some of the finest relief work in the Nile valley. Seti I started an art and architectural revival during his reign. He wished to return to the traditional canons of Egyptian art after the so-called Amarna period, and his two temples, at Kurna and Abydos (page 21), have delicate, classical reliefs. Temple of Seti I The first court was totally destroyed, and...

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Christian Period of Ancient Egypt

Christian Period Background Upper Egypt is studded with monasteries, hermitages and churches, some of which date to the 4th and 5th centuries. As a descriptive guide to the antiquities of Upper Egypt, this book would therefore fall short of its purpose if it did not cover, however selectively, some of the early Christian monuments that lie within easy access of the sites described, and identify some of the pharaonic temples that were converted into churches. Christian Period of Ancient Egypt The historical background given below is by no means a comprehensive summary of the development of Christianity in Egypt, which, according to tradition,...

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Mortuary Temples in Luxor

Mortuary Temples The Colossus of Memnon and its companion These two somewhat weathered seated statues greet visitors to the necropolis. They are all that remain of what was once the largest mortuary temple in the necropolis, that of Amenhotep III. It is somewhat difficult, today, to imagine a temple which, with its gardens and lake, extended from the Ramesseum to Medinet Habu. Mortuary Temples in Luxor Amenhotep’s mortuary temple was probably badly damaged from a high flood. Since then time and neglect wrought havoc with it. In the 19th Dynasty, Ramses II’s son Merenptah used some of the fallen blocks for his own, neighbouring, temple. Finally,...

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Mortuary Temple of Ramses II

Mortuary Temple of Ramses II (The Ramesseum) Ramses II left a greater mark in history than many other accomplished and successful pharaohs, such as Ahmose (who won the war of liberation against the Hyksos) and Thutmose III (who won a great empire). The reason is that Ramses II had one of the longest reigns in Egyptian history. He ruled for 67 years and built more numerous monuments, of greater size, than any other pharaoh. He repeated, in huge and detailed relief, his victory during the Battle of Kadesh in the,{|tR year of his reign. Temple of Ramses II The history of the batnC'may be summarised as follows: Ramses II’s objective was to capture...

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Egypt under the Romans

Egypt under the Romans In the first century AD, Egypt was under Roman domination. Alexandria, the harbour capital, had acquired a new source of wealth as a commercial station between India, Arabia and Rome. But an immense burden was placed on the Egyptian people in the form of taxes. The most pressing of these was the wheat tax that was collected directly from the farmer as part of the quota for Rome. Egypt under the Romans The produce of the vineyards, palm groves and fig plantations were also collected by Roman officials. Taxes were levied on domestic animals - sheep, oxen, horses and donkeys. Traders were taxed. Oil- sellers, bakers, spice...

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Luxor and The Necropolis

The Necropolis The necropolis lies on the western bank of the Nile at Luxor. Its monuments include a series of mortuary temples built by the pharaohs of the New Kingdom, royal tombs in the Valley of the Kings and the Valley of the Queens, and hundreds of tombs of noblemen that extend from the Dra Abu el Naga in the north to the Asasif in the south. Ancient Egyptian Necropolis  Although it is known as the ‘city of the dead’, the necropolis was once a populated and busy community. Beside each mortuary temple there were dwellings for the different orders of priests, stalls for sacrificial animals, guard-houses and store-houses, each with...

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Mortuary Temples Ancient Egypt

Mortuary Temples The Colossus of Memnon and its companion These two somewhat weathered seated statues greet visitors to the necropolis. They are all that remain of what was once the largest mortuary temple in the necropolis, that of Amenhotep III. It is somewhat difficult, today, to imagine a temple which, with its gardens and lake, extended from the Ramesseum to Medinet Habu. Mortuary Temples Ancient Egypt Amenhotep’s mortuary temple was probably badly damaged from a high flood. Since then time and neglect wrought havoc with it. In the 19th Dynasty, Ramses II’s son Merenptah used some of the fallen blocks for his own, neighbouring, temple....

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The Isis Temple Complex

The Isis Temple Complex The huge Entrance Pylon (P. 1) lies ahead. It is eighteen metres high and forty-five metres wide. Each of the two towers is decorated with mighty figures of Neos Dionysos, Ptolemy XII, depicted as pharaoh and wearing the Double Crown of Upper and Lower Egypt. He clasps enemies by the hair and raises his club above their heads to smite them in the presence of Egypt’s best loved deities: Isis and Nephthys, Horus and Hathor. Thus did the Ptolemaic kings give themselves credit for suppressing Egypt’s traditional enemies and honouring local traditions. Isis Temple Complex Two granite lions guard the entrance; they are...

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Valley of the Queens

Valley of the Queens This valley was where some of the queens and royal children of the 19th and 20th Dynasties were buried. There are over twenty tombs; many are unfinished and entirely without decoration. The most beautiful, that of Nefertari, beloved wife of Ramses II, is not open to visitors. However, we are fortunate that there is another tomb in the same style and with similar representations. Valley of the Queens Tomb No. 40 This is the burial place of an unidentified queen. Her tomb so closely resembles that of Nefertari that it is believed to date to the beginning of the 19th Dynasty.- Valley of the Queens A stairway leads to...

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The Basilica at Dendera

The Basilica at Dendera The ruins of this basilica are situated near the Birth-House of the temple of Hathor. It is built of sandstone. Some of the blocks from the Birth House were reused in its construction. The Basilica at Dendera This is one of the earliest Roman basilicas with a wide central aisle or nave, and two side aisles preceded by a narthex on the west, with lateral semi-circular apses at the end. It is large and roomy with decorated recesses. The Basilica at Dendera It is possible that this church marked the famous Christian centre of the fourth century for it was stated by St Jerome that somewhere in the neighbourhood of...

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The Necropolis in Luxur

The Necropolis The necropolis lies on the western bank of the Nile at Luxor. Its monuments include a series of mortuary temples built by the pharaohs of the New Kingdom, royal tombs in the Valley of the Kings and the Valley of the Queens, and hundreds of tombs of noblemen that extend from the Dra Abu el Naga in the north to the Asasif in the south. Necropolis in Luxur Although it is known as the ‘city of the dead’, the necropolis was once a populated and busy community. Beside each mortuary temple there were dwellings for the different orders of priests, stalls for sacrificial animals, guard-houses and store-houses, each with its superintendent....

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