The Ramesseum is the mortuary temple of Pharaoh Ramses II in Egypt. It is located in Thebes, in Upper Egypt, near the Nile river not far from the modern city of Luxor. The name - in its French form Rhamesséion - was coined by Jean-François Champollion, who visited these ruins in 1829 and was the first to identify the hieroglyphs with the name of Ramses and his titles on the walls. Originally the site was called the Million Year House of Usermaatra-setepenra which unites the city of Thebes with the domains of Amun
Ramses II modified, or built many of the most beautiful structures of the New Kingdom including the Ramesseum, a temple dedicated to the pharaoh, god on earth, where the memory would be known for generations to the whole world after his bodily death. Work on building the temple began according to records at the beginning of his reign and ended in 20 years.
The design of the temple of Ramses adheres perfectly to the standard canons of New Kingdom temple architecture. Oriented northwest to southeast, the temple itself included two stone pillars for entry leading to the temple courtyard. Beyond the second courtyard, in the center of the complex, there was a hypostyle hall supported by 48 columns that surrounded the internal sanctuary. In the first courtyard there was also a gigantic statue of the king whose remains can still be admired today.
As was customary, the entrance pillars and outer walls were decorated with scenes commemorating the pharaoh's military victories as well as depictions of Egyptian gods. In the case of the Ramesseum there are scenes from the Battle of Kadesh (c. 1285 BC) which represent an enormous propaganda work carried out by the pharaoh as the clash was actually fatal for the Egyptians who are represented triumphant here.
Of the gigantic statue of Ramses II (19 meters high and weighing 1000 tons) today only fragments still visible on the ground remain. From the quarries where it was hewn, the statue was then transported for 170 miles. The remains today represent the largest in situ remains of a colossal statue in the world together with the colossi of Ramesses in Tanis.
The remains found in the second courtyard include part of the inner facade of the pylons and a portion of the portico of Osiris on the right. Other scenes of war with the Hittites in Kadesh are repeated on the walls. In the upper part there are instead feasts in honor of the god Min, god of fertility. On the opposite side to the courtyard of Osiris there are other columns that provide the original idea of ​​the site's splendor because they are better preserved. Here there are also parts of two statues of the king, one in pink granite and the other in black granite, placed side by side at the entrance to the temple. One of the heads of these statues was removed and is now in the British Museum. 31 of the 48 columns of the hypostyle hall (measures 41m x 31m) are still standing. They are decorated with scenes depicting the king with several gods. Part of the ceiling is decorated with gold stars on a blue background and is still preserved in painting. The sons and daughters of Ramesses appear in procession on the left wall. The sanctuary is made up of three consecutive chambers with eight columns and a tetrastyle cell. Part of the first room, with the ceiling decorated with astral scenes, is still preserved today.
Adjacent to the hypostyle hall is a smaller temple dedicated to Ramses' mother, Tuia and his beloved first wife Nefertari. The complex is surrounded by numerous reception rooms, granaries, laboratories, and ancillary buildings, some built in Roman times.
In the area of ​​the hypostyle hall there was previously a temple built by Seti I, but today only its foundations have emerged. It consisted of a peristyle court and two chapels. Papyri between the 11th and 8th centuries BC they indicate the temple as the site of an important school of scribes.
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