Medinet Habu is the burial temple of Pharaoh Ramses III (1184 - 1153 BC) of the 20th Dynasty. It is located in the homonymous settlement, near the foot of the Theban hills, on the west bank of the Nile, opposite the modern city of Luxor in Egypt.
The tomb of Ramses III (KV11) is located in the nearby Valley of the Kings. According to the burial practices of the New Kingdom and to protect themselves from the tomb, the royal and rich tombs were underground, carved on the deserted slopes of the hills of the area, while the burial temples of the pharaohs were rebuilt in a prominent part of the fertile plain.
The funeral home of Ramses III is also called the "House of the Millions of Users of Maat-Re Meriamun", which is the name of his throne and means "He who is united with eternity and belongs to Ammon-Ra".
The pharaohs built their funeral temples with the ultimate goal of perpetuating the memory of their kingdom and achievements, as well as their posthumous worship.
In ancient Egypt, the area of ​​present-day Medinet Hambu was called Djanet and was associated with the first divine appearance of Amon. A small temple of Amon dating to the 18th Dynasty is located east of the funeral temple of Ramses III. It was built during the reign of Hatshepsut and Tutmosis III on the ruins of an earlier temple dedicated to the same god. The name "Medinet Habu" was given to the area many centuries later and probably comes from the word hbw = ibis, ibis, the sacred bird of Thoth, perhaps from a small Ptolemaic temple, Qasr el-Aguz, which was built in the area and was dedicated to Thoth, and the word "Habu" = Hapu (Hapu) by Amenhotep, son of Hapu [3], who was an official of Pharaoh Amenhotep III with various duties (architect, scribe, priest, civil servant) and the high position he held in the palace is shown by the fact that he was allowed to build his funeral temple next to that of Amenhotep III - an extremely rare honor - which is located in the same area of ​​the Theban plain.
Although there are other buildings in Medinet Habou, the burial monument of Ramses III of the 20th Dynasty is so important that today the whole area is almost completely identified with it. "It is not only the impressive dimensions, the architecture and the artistic value of the temple that make it remarkable, but mainly its relief decorative representations accompanied by hieroglyphic inscriptions, elements that are a unique source of historical information about the presence and defeat of the so-called." Peoples of the Sea "during the reign of Ramses III.
The first European to describe the temple in modern literature was Vivan Denon, who visited it between 1799-1801. Jean-François Champollion described the temple in detail in 1829.
The first excavations of the temple were carried out sporadically in the period from 1859 to 1899, under the auspices of the Department of Antiquities of Egypt. During these decades the main church was cleaned and a large number of buildings of the Coptic period were destroyed, without being recorded.
Since 1924 and almost uninterruptedly, the excavation, recording and maintenance work of the temple has been facilitated mainly by the Architectural and Inscription Research of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the University of Chicago.
Brief description of the temple
The funeral temple of Ramses III is the best preserved of all the funeral temples of Thebes. Its design is typical that follows the period of the New Kingdom and presents many similarities with the funeral temple of Ramses II (Ramses). Its perimeter is 210m. X 300m. Its decoration includes more than 7,000 sq.m. of decorated surfaces (walls, columns, ceilings) with embossed and written decorative representations. Among them stand out those that depict the victory of Ramses III against the Peoples of the Sea.
The tomb of Ramses III (KV11) is located in the nearby Valley of the Kings. According to the burial practices of the New Kingdom and to protect themselves from the tomb, the royal and rich tombs were underground, carved on the deserted slopes of the hills of the area, while the burial temples of the pharaohs were rebuilt in a prominent part of the fertile plain.
The funeral home of Ramses III is also called the "House of the Millions of Users of Maat-Re Meriamun", which is the name of his throne and means "He who is united with eternity and belongs to Ammon-Ra".
The pharaohs built their funeral temples with the ultimate goal of perpetuating the memory of their kingdom and achievements, as well as their posthumous worship.
In ancient Egypt, the area of ​​present-day Medinet Hambu was called Djanet and was associated with the first divine appearance of Amon. A small temple of Amon dating to the 18th Dynasty is located east of the funeral temple of Ramses III. It was built during the reign of Hatshepsut and Tutmosis III on the ruins of an earlier temple dedicated to the same god. The name "Medinet Habu" was given to the area many centuries later and probably comes from the word hbw = ibis, ibis, the sacred bird of Thoth, perhaps from a small Ptolemaic temple, Qasr el-Aguz, which was built in the area and was dedicated to Thoth, and the word "Habu" = Hapu (Hapu) by Amenhotep, son of Hapu [3], who was an official of Pharaoh Amenhotep III with various duties (architect, scribe, priest, civil servant) and the high position he held in the palace is shown by the fact that he was allowed to build his funeral temple next to that of Amenhotep III - an extremely rare honor - which is located in the same area of ​​the Theban plain.
Although there are other buildings in Medinet Habou, the burial monument of Ramses III of the 20th Dynasty is so important that today the whole area is almost completely identified with it. "It is not only the impressive dimensions, the architecture and the artistic value of the temple that make it remarkable, but mainly its relief decorative representations accompanied by hieroglyphic inscriptions, elements that are a unique source of historical information about the presence and defeat of the so-called." Peoples of the Sea "during the reign of Ramses III.
The first European to describe the temple in modern literature was Vivan Denon, who visited it between 1799-1801. Jean-François Champollion described the temple in detail in 1829.
The first excavations of the temple were carried out sporadically in the period from 1859 to 1899, under the auspices of the Department of Antiquities of Egypt. During these decades the main church was cleaned and a large number of buildings of the Coptic period were destroyed, without being recorded.
Since 1924 and almost uninterruptedly, the excavation, recording and maintenance work of the temple has been facilitated mainly by the Architectural and Inscription Research of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the University of Chicago.
Brief description of the temple
The funeral temple of Ramses III is the best preserved of all the funeral temples of Thebes. Its design is typical that follows the period of the New Kingdom and presents many similarities with the funeral temple of Ramses II (Ramses). Its perimeter is 210m. X 300m. Its decoration includes more than 7,000 sq.m. of decorated surfaces (walls, columns, ceilings) with embossed and written decorative representations. Among them stand out those that depict the victory of Ramses III against the Peoples of the Sea.
Its masonry is maintained in relatively good condition. Initially, the church and the other buildings associated with it were surrounded by a solid brick wall of 18m high. and 10m thick. The main entrance to the temple is through a fortified gate-bastion (migdol gate) located to the east of the first pillar of the temple. The type of this bastion is a common element of the Syrian fortification architecture of the period.
Ramses III also built warehouses, workshops, administrative spaces, as well as residences for priests and officials inside the precinct, which shows that it was not a simple place of worship of the pharaoh, but also had an economic-administrative character.
In the southern part of the area that encloses the precinct are the temples of Amentridis I, Sepenupet II and Nitocris I, which bore the title of the Holy Healer of Amon. They date after the end of the New Kingdom, in the 25th Dynasty (8th-7th century BC) of the Third Intermediate Period
The first entrance pillar (pylon) leads to an open outdoor space defined by rows of colossal statues of Ramses III in the type of Osiris. The second pillar leads to a peristyle hall with similar columns in the form of statues of Ramses. After the second pillar is a pillar room whose roof is not preserved. The decoration of Medinet Hambo has been identified with the figures of foreign prisoners in an attempt to demonstrate the control exercised by Pharaoh Ramses III in areas such as Syria and Nubia.
During the Coptic period the temple of Ramses III was used as a Coptic church and some of the original decorative representations were replaced by Coptic sculptures.
Right next to the south side of the first open space of the funeral temple of Ramses III are the archeological remains of a royal palace that was directly connected to the courtyard of the temple through the "Window of Appearances" from which the king made his public appearances. These palaces seem to have had a symbolic character associated with pharaonic rituals and it is not certain if they were used by Ramses as a place of residence.
The list of kings
Part of the decoration of the funeral temple of Ramses III in Medinet Habou is a representation with pharaoh names of the New Kingdom. Located on the east wall of the second courtyard. It depicts Ramses III participating in festive ceremonies dedicated to the god Min. It includes a total of sixteen royal deltas with the names of the throne belonging to nine pharaohs, namely: Amenhotep III "Nebmaatra", Horebhe "Djeserkheperura", Ramses A '"Menpehtyra", Set A' "Menmaatra", Ramsa ", Merenpta" Baenra ", Set B '" Userkheperura Setepenra ", Setnakhte" Userkhaure "and Ramses C'" User-Maat-Re Meriamun ". (the names of the throne are mentioned in quotation marks).
The left part of the representation represents the procession of transporting seven statues belonging to ancestors. The right part shows the nine pharaohs in procession.
This scene bears many similarities to the list of pharaohs adorning the Ramses, which was its model.
The composition was first published by Jean-François Champollion in 1845, followed by Karl Richard Lepsius four years later. Both posts had minor errors and omissions. One hundred years later, in 1940, the University of Chicago Department of Epigraphic Research published the final rendition of the scene.
Ramses III also built warehouses, workshops, administrative spaces, as well as residences for priests and officials inside the precinct, which shows that it was not a simple place of worship of the pharaoh, but also had an economic-administrative character.
In the southern part of the area that encloses the precinct are the temples of Amentridis I, Sepenupet II and Nitocris I, which bore the title of the Holy Healer of Amon. They date after the end of the New Kingdom, in the 25th Dynasty (8th-7th century BC) of the Third Intermediate Period
The first entrance pillar (pylon) leads to an open outdoor space defined by rows of colossal statues of Ramses III in the type of Osiris. The second pillar leads to a peristyle hall with similar columns in the form of statues of Ramses. After the second pillar is a pillar room whose roof is not preserved. The decoration of Medinet Hambo has been identified with the figures of foreign prisoners in an attempt to demonstrate the control exercised by Pharaoh Ramses III in areas such as Syria and Nubia.
During the Coptic period the temple of Ramses III was used as a Coptic church and some of the original decorative representations were replaced by Coptic sculptures.
Right next to the south side of the first open space of the funeral temple of Ramses III are the archeological remains of a royal palace that was directly connected to the courtyard of the temple through the "Window of Appearances" from which the king made his public appearances. These palaces seem to have had a symbolic character associated with pharaonic rituals and it is not certain if they were used by Ramses as a place of residence.
The list of kings
Part of the decoration of the funeral temple of Ramses III in Medinet Habou is a representation with pharaoh names of the New Kingdom. Located on the east wall of the second courtyard. It depicts Ramses III participating in festive ceremonies dedicated to the god Min. It includes a total of sixteen royal deltas with the names of the throne belonging to nine pharaohs, namely: Amenhotep III "Nebmaatra", Horebhe "Djeserkheperura", Ramses A '"Menpehtyra", Set A' "Menmaatra", Ramsa ", Merenpta" Baenra ", Set B '" Userkheperura Setepenra ", Setnakhte" Userkhaure "and Ramses C'" User-Maat-Re Meriamun ". (the names of the throne are mentioned in quotation marks).
The left part of the representation represents the procession of transporting seven statues belonging to ancestors. The right part shows the nine pharaohs in procession.
This scene bears many similarities to the list of pharaohs adorning the Ramses, which was its model.
The composition was first published by Jean-François Champollion in 1845, followed by Karl Richard Lepsius four years later. Both posts had minor errors and omissions. One hundred years later, in 1940, the University of Chicago Department of Epigraphic Research published the final rendition of the scene.
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