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Luxor Top Attractions

Medinet Habu

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Parent Category: Egypt Top Attractions
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Is situated in the western bank of the Nile in Luxor, was built by King Ramses III who was one of the great warriors of Egypt. The king is represented in the traditional scene of the Pharaoh holding his enemies by his left hand, and smiting them with his mace held on his right hand. It is considered a large temple if compared with Kom Ombo temple or even Philae temple in Aswan. As the ancient Egyptian people believed in the Sun, they believed that life exists where the sun rises, while it disappears where the sun sets, for it they founded their houses, temples, and palaces in the eastern bank of the Nile, while their tombs, funeral temples were founded in the western bank of the Nile where sun sets.

An ancient Egyptian temple consists of

  • open courtyard

  • huge pylon

  • colonnade

  • second pylon

  • hypostyle hall

  • another pylon

  • small hall (was called the appearance hall

  • Sided rooms for storing offerings

  • The sanctuary ( the holy of the hollies)

And the enterior horizontaly takes the shape of a pyramid as the outside courtyard is the largest point and the sanctuary is the smallest. It was a fortified site, and its walls enclosed the older Temple to Amun built by Hatshepsut and the Mortuary Temple of Divine Adortrices of Amun. The walls also enclosed a palace annex to the temple. It is thought that Ramses III lived in the palace, and that his mortuary temple was built prior to his death. The Temple of Divine Adortrices of Amun was used to worship the various deceased daughters of Pharaohs who assumed this religious office.

The Temple to Amun was the site of the annual pilgrimage of the Karnak boat of Amun which was carried in procession from Karnak, to the Temple of Luxor, and then across the Nile to this temple. Amun of Luxor (Luxor Temple) traveled to and from the Temple of Amun at Medinet Habu every ten days, presumably coinciding with the beginning of each "decan" marked by the star charts. There was a canal and a boat landing to facilitate these processions.

It is recorded that Ramses III met his death in the upper rooms of the gate. It is speculated that he was murdered in a palace plot.

The temple itself is typical, with three courts. The first is the most public and profane, with higher levels of purification being required for entry

to the second and the highest purification required for entry to the third.

There is still color on the murals on the walls of the first and second court. The Temple was appropriated by various groups over the centuries as it was fortified. Many of the murals were covered with whitewash or plaster, thus preserving them.

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