Kamil,J.luxor AGuideToAncientThebes

LUXOR A Guide to Ancient Thebes Second Edition

.Jill Kamil Photo graphs by Alista ir Duncan and George Allen Plans b y H assan Ibrahim

LONGMAN LO NDON AND NEW YORK

LONGMAN GROUP LTD London Associated companies, branches and representatives throughout the world Text © Longman Group Ltd 1973, 1976 Photographs © Middle East Archive, and, for the photograph on page 31, the publishers thank Mrs Hackforth Jones, Robert Harding Associates, who hold the copyright. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the Copyright owner. First published 1973 Second edition 1976, reprinted 1977 ISBN 0-582-78065-9 Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Kamil, Jill. Luxor: a guide to ancient Thebes. 1. Thebes, Egypt. 1. Title. DT73·T3K35 1976 93 2 75-4 2256 ISBN 0-582-78065-9

Printed in Hong Kong by Sherk Wah Tong Printing Press Ltd

CONTENTS

CHAPTER

J

INTRODUCTIOl\"

CHAPTER

2

THE TEMPLE OF LUXOR

Background Description

II

22

Pylon of Ramses II Court of Ramses II, Colonnade Court of Arnenhotep III Hypostyle Hall Birth Room Sanctuary of Alexander the Great

Traditionalism of Egyptian Design

CHAPTER J

Page

26

27 3° 3° 32

33 34

THE GREAT TEMPLE OF AMON AT KARNAK

Background Description First Pylon, Great Court, Shrine of Seti II Temple of Ramses III Triumphal Monument of Sheshonk I Second Pylon, Great Hypostyle Hall Third Pylon, Pavilion of Sesostris I, Central Court Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Pylons Hall of Records, Sanctuary Great Festival Temple of Thutmose III Rear Section of Temple of Arnon, Sacred Lake Southern Buildings, Karnak Cachette, Seventh to Tenth Pylons

37

38 41 42 42

48 50

53 54 56

56

Ikhnatnn T emple Project T emp le of K hon su T emple of Osiris and O pel T empl e of \I ur CH . I P T J::R 4

CH A PTE R 5

TH E ;\;ECROPOLl SI"iTROD CCTIO;\;

G rear Hypost ylc Hall Exte rior Co los si of em non

'I

UI./P T ER () T W: N EC R O PO LIS - T HE V:\ L L E Y OF TH E KI N G S

66

TH E N E C R O P O LIS\10RT UARY TE\IP L ES

Backg rou nd Mor tuar y Tem p le of Seri I (K um a ) M ortua r y T emple o f Queen Hatsch ep sut (Oc r eI Bahri) Introduction Lower and Centr al Courts Pun t Colonn ade Shrine of Harbor Birrh Colonn ade Small and Upper Courts, Sanctuary Der el Bahr i-Shaft and Cavern T he Shaft at De r el Bahri T he Cavern at O cr el Bahri M ortuary T empl e of Ramses II (The R arn as seum) Introd uction Ent rance Pylon First and Second Courts H ypostylc Hall Smaller hyposryle halls T he Port rayal of Rarnses II Mortuary T em p le o f Ramses III (:\ Ie d ine t Ha bu ) In trod uction First Pylon , First Court Second Pylon, Seco nd Court

72 72

75 79 79

Ba ckground Tomb of T'ur enkharnon (62)Q Tom b of Se ri I (17) Tom b of:\ men hote p 11(35 ) T om b of Rarn s es VI (9) T omb of Ram se s III (It) T omb of Rarn ses IX (6) T omb nf Ha rrnhab (57) T omb of T h ut m ose III (34) CH. I PTE R ;

80

10]

1° 7 II]

121 12]

126 12 9

1]1 1]1

T H E ": Pylon o f Ramses II ·(hc m ain ent rance 10 rhc tem ple of Luxor is by th e great Pylon Rillnses II (Plan 2 P.I ) ,~ In fron l of it are six enormo us stat ue s o f Ramses I I, t wo scaled and fo ur standi ng. Were t hese statues nor can oed from solid granite one might imagine th em to ha ve been cast fro m a pai r of moul ds . so si m ilar are t heir solid legs, firm ly im plant ed Ice r, squ are shou lde rs, clearcur feat ures and eyes looking for ward thro ugh all eterni ty . In fro nt of the seated figur es were two pink gr anite obe lisks, T he one in posit ion , now rein forced and rep aired , has its basc ado rne d with th ree p raying apes on one side, and rhe inscri ption s name Ram ses II him self JS the builder of this magni ficent tem ple erected to hono ur :\ mon, blithely over loo king the fact that he was respo nsib le o nly for add ing to th e entrance section of a temple that had stood on site to r over seven hund red vears. T he ot her o belis k now stands in Paris. ' The ou ter walls of the pylon arc em bellished with records of Ramses I I's mi litar y cam paigns, part icularl y agains t the Hittit es of Sy ria in t he fifth year of his reign , Rarn ses II was always an xio us lo r his per sonal bravery 10 be recorde d and his scu lp tors lost no lime in pand ering 10 h is vanity. O n t he western tower ( II) one can still make OUI life at the Egy ptian camp ( 10 the ril,{hl ) and th e enth ro ned Ph arao h hold ing counci l (to the left ). In th e cent re is the for tified camp wit h sh ielded soldiers and the Pharaoh hims elf das hing with his char iot int o the fra y. The easte rn tower (b) dep icts a fer ocious bail ie with Ram ses II , still in his cha riot, hurl ing ar rows at the sur ro unding enemy. D ead and wou nded lie bene ath h is feet and the enemy flee in confu sion 10 th e fort re ss of K ad esh from whence fresh troops ap pear. Ka dcsh itself is surro unded wit h bat tleme nts and the defend ing Hi tti te forces, T o the ext reme left, somewhat remote from the heal of th e

or

bat tle, the prin ce of the H ittites rnav he seen surro und ed bv h is guar ds and su pposed ly in fear o f t he 'ene my , ' ' Co urt of Ramses II , C olo n na d e Passi ng th rough th e e ntr ance pylon we enter the Court ofR amse, II (A ), to the le ft of which th e F arim ide \ l osque of Ab u eI H agag sta nds In contrast to th e sole m n ru ins of Pharo n ic Eg yp t. As recently as 1968 the luca l sheikhs, who claim that the tomb of the saint him self lies here, rook adva nt age of a q uiet tourist-free peri od , wh en man y Egy pto logis ts had esca ped fro m the summe r heat, to ad d an exten sion to the rear portion of th e m osque , bui lt, It WI ll be seen , on ever weake ni ng foundat ions, T he height of t he mosq ue above th e stone court yard ind icate s the neight 10 which t he tem ple was buried in sand , T he co urt itself is s urr o unde d by sm oot h-sh afted papyr uscolumns WIth lotus-bud capitals , S tandi ng colossi of Ra m ses II wer e p laced be tween the first ro w of co lum ns in the so uth ern ha lf. On each s ide of the doo rw ay are a further two stat ues of th e Pharaoh wroug ht in r ed and black granite. The on e On th e left h as S1..111l('