West Bank Temples & Necropolis - Medinet Habu

 

West Bank Temples & Necropolis - Medinet Habu

Medinet Habu is the Arabic name for the Mortuary Temple of Ramses III, an enormous temple complex on the West Bank of the Nile, second only to the Karnak Temple Complex in size and better preserved. It also is among the least visited of the major sights around Luxor, as most day coach tours do not include a visit due to their tight time constraints.

While many of the pharaohs were actually buried in or near the Valley of the Kings, they also had constructed great mortuary temples, such as this one, to honour their memory and to host the cult that connected them with the gods. 

Medinet Habu’s highlights include the asymmetrical Ptolemaic entrance way Pylon, the Migdol Gate, the sandstone Mortuary Temple of Ramses III itself and the outstanding vibrant wall reliefs that surround the complex. Nearby are located the remains of several other memorial temples, the most noteworthy of which undoubtedly are those of Ramses II, Amenhotep III and Seti I. 

Medinet Habu provides a good idea of how Ramses II’s Ramesseum would have appeared. Its name, "Ramesseum" was given to the site by Champollion, who visited the ruins in 1829 and who first deciphered hieroglyphs. Unfortunately, the inexorable passage of three millennia has not been kind to Ramses’ "temple of a million years" due to its location on the very edge of the Nile floodplain and little but an outline remains today.

A few kilometres away, stands the remains of Pharaoh Amenhotep III’s memorial temple. A massive cult centre, this was the largest and most opulent temple complex ever constructed in Egypt; even the temple complex at Karnak, as it stood in Amenhotep's time, was smaller.

In front, stands the Colossi of Memnon, two massive stone statues of Amenhotep III his hands resting on his knees and his gaze turned eastward toward the river and the rising sun.

 

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