MEDINET HABU
The Mortuary Temple of Ramses 111
The Mortuary Temple of Ramses 111
Leaving the ticket office I rode towards Medinet Habu, jostling and bumping along like a rally driver over rough terrain I attempted to avoid all the pit holes along the edge of the desert, to my right the black tarmac road weaved its way towards the Valley of the Queens where it cut through the base of the Valley like a flowing river and arrived at the entrances of the tombs of the two young sons that Ramses 111 had adored and was shown to escort through the perils and gates of the underworld himself.
My rally ride eventually joined the road that swept around a blind bend arriving in a wonderfully relaxed and quiet corner of Luxor; I stood beneath the unusual Migdol entrance of Medinet Habu, the Mortuary temple of Ramses 111 who was considered one of the last great rulers of Ancient Egypt. During the Middle Kingdom period this area was believed to be where the Ogdoad, the four pairs of first primeval gods, were buried.
The Egyptians believed that before the world was formed, there was a watery mass of dark, directionless chaos. (Like the sky at night) In this chaos lived the Ogdoad, four frog gods and four snake goddesses of chaos. (we know that during the first act of creation of a baby the sperm appears as a snake) the ogdoad represented balance in infinity, they were thought to have helped with creation, then died and retired to the land of the dead where they continued to make the Nile flow and the sun rise every day.
The ancient Egyptians believed that the spirit of a person (the Ka) came into being at birth, and was intimately linked to the physical body during his eternal life after death, when it would require sustenance of food and drink. At the mortuary temples on the west bank the priests presented the Ka statue of the deceased king with offerings to satisfy his needs, these temples were also used also for festivals during the king’s lifetime. The temples could be considered as books that were written in stone to inspire the nation of the king’s courage and deeds in his lifetime.
Every temple has a different feeling; Medinet Habu is peaceful, although it has a detailed and fearsome war record showing the battles Ramses fought with the Sea people. The temple has been restored and is a pleasure to view because the majority of tourists head in droves to swamp the more famous areas of Hatshepsut’s temple and the Valley of the Kings. People are unaware of the exciting history that is recorded on the walls of Medinet Habu relaying the king’s desperate and final victory during an invasion of the sea people. Happily for me I found myself virtually alone, surrounded by peace and a small measure of solitude to contemplate the history within.
As I walked between the defensive walls of the Migdol wrapping around each side of me, my eyes were drawn to the high windows of the Kings harem, its deep fortified walls rose high above me traveling before me to cross the top of the shaded portal gateway, I imagined the king standing in the window above me, looking down from the windows of his harem, symbolically defiant as his foot rested on the head of one of the prisoners protruding from the base of the windows. As I emerged through the gateway I was temporarily blinded by the sun, I had to shade my eyes whilst they adjusted to the brightness in this vast open courtyard, and then my attention was immediately demanded by the strong central main position of the temple that proudly stood before me, the pale stone pylons majestically rose from the ground and seemed to reach the edge of heaven in a beautiful clear blue turquoise sky.
Far away broken mud brick walls traverse around the edges of this courtyard dividing this small city of Habu from the desert they were as broken and trampled as the real threats of invasion that had been endured during the early years of Ramses 111 reign when the fortified walls of Medinet Habu then became a sanctuary of safety for the tomb workers who lived nearby at Dier El Medina.
Ramses had come to rule when there was unrest in the Mediterranean countries, the Trojan War was being fought, and many people were displaced and seeking new countries to settle in. Initially the first few years of his rule were quiet and so he strengthened his position. In the 5th year of his reign the Libyans tried to force there way from the desert area into the fertile lands of the western delta. Ramses took his army and quickly squashed the Libyans and anyone left alive was taken into slavery. I n the 8th year of his reign the Sea People marched down through Syria they were accompanied by a large fleet at the Delta, they came with their families and all their possessions obviously intending to settle in Egypt’s fertile Nile lands, Ramses drove off the main force and defeated the enemy fleet in the engagement fought at the Delta.
His victories are written all over the walls inside the temple, pitiful enemies are bound by the neck and wrists, and then dragged around on a leash by him, their tribal leaders forced to prostrate before him, whilst his court celebrate releasing doves in the air that will fly to the four corners of the earth to proclaim his victory and kingship. Vast sea battles are detailed on the exterior walls of the temple, they show his army battling in the chaos of the sea, and arrows fly across the walls recording the onslaught and chaos, lifeless bodies dangle from the war barques helpless bodies pierced with bloody arrows. Soldiers leap in droves from the boundaries of their boats where fierce fighting ensues, bodies are hacked by the swords as the mighty Sheridan wearing metal helmets with horns sweep into the fray, they are mighty adversities and fearless in this battle, where they are the enemies of Egypt.
Unlike the armies we have today Ramses would pay his soldiers after a battle according to how many men they had killed , so they would brutally chop off the hands or penises of their enemies, these grisly trophies would ensure their reward from the king. On the inner wall behind the round columns, rows of scribes, there heads shaved wearing their simple white robes of purification , calmly and methodically count and record these grisly spoils of war, from the baskets of blood dripping hands that are pilled high waiting to be emptied and then counted.
On the east wall Ramses rides back from the battle triumphant in his war chariot, Amenhikhopeshef and Khamwese his sons and Royal Fan Bearers proudly walk behind his chariot, to add further to my grisly shock of the baskets of hands, looking closer at the wheels of the chariot , I realized there was something not quite right, and as I stared at the image I realized that Ramses had leashed two unfortunate prisoners to the undercarriage of his chariot by their ankles and arms. Shocked by this image I felt that I had learnt new lessons on the brutality of ancient war practices, forget the Geneva Convention, War in this era was domination power and brutality where only the strongest survived.
This photo is taken from underneath the tunnel doorway into the courtyard, the ceiling always shows the kings name in hyroglifs, with the signs for beautiful god,life,son of Amun Ra, along with this we can see the sun disc with wings. The symbolism of the winged discis always shown on temples and tombs on ceilings or doorways, as it expresses the incarnating spirit of the human soul in birth and death. The sun disc is the emblem of the human soul and the wings give it flight. By using this symbol on ceilings and doorways where we enter or leave, it reminds us that our soul only has a temporary residence within the human body.
The Hypostyle Hall at the rear of Medinet Habu creates a barrier between the outer courts of the mortuary temple and the Inner Sanctuaries and temple treasury rooms. In the hypostle hall only the broken stubs of columns remain, and the area is interspersed with the broken statues of Amun the father of the king, Maat the Goddess of Truth and Justice, from whom he would learn the qualities needed to be a good ruler, Thoth the God of Wisdom, who will write the magical words on the walls of his temple to record his earthly deeds and justify his reign, Ptah holding his broken djed staff strength and stability, and finally a statue of the king himself.
Ramses 111 ruled for 31 years, the cartouches on the walls at Medinet Habu where the name of the queen would normally appear have been left blank, unlike some kings Ramses obviously was not a romantic king inspired with the love of a wife, but he obviously adored his sons. One of his sons Amon-Hir-khopshef died as a young boy of about 15 years old, he was a royal scribe a cavalry commander a royal fan bearer and a Superior of The two Lands. Ramses must have loved his son greatly as he buried him in a stunningly colorful and beautifully decorated tomb within the Valley of the Queens QV 55; his son’s tomb is one of the most popular in the valley. His mother was so distressed by his death that she miscarried a baby, and the small foetus is now in a little glass coffin within his tomb.
Towards the end of Ramses 111 rule, a Lower wife Tiy was found to be the main culprit in a death plot against Ramses; she had hoped to see her son Pertwere succeed to the throne. A priest who practiced the arts of magic created wax figurines potions and wrote magical spells , In ancient Egypt words were magical, and had the power to evoke the of power life and death. The spells cast against Ramses and the black magic did not kill him unfortunately for the conspirators of this devious plot, their intentions were considered as deadly and as serious as an actual physical assault on Ramses, the magic invoked was as terrible a threat as trying to cut him down with a sword. Thirty conspirators of the harem were put on trial, they were sentenced to death and told to commit suicide in front of the court or in their cells, after their trial, ten judges also faced trial for having taken meals with the accused during the trials, they were condemned to have their ears and nose cut off. Recently Ramses body has been put through a scanner and it was discovered that his throat had been cut.
Ramses also considered tomb robbery a very serious offence and it was at Medinet Habu that the Kenbet (court) dealt with the criminals who violated the tombs of the kings. The scribes recorded the trials and confessions and the records were then hidden for safe keeping. Punishment for this crime was to have the nose and ears cut off and to be impaled on a stake on the mountain side.
Apart from his mortuary temple built at Medinet Habu, Ramses 111 had a tomb excavated in the Valley of the Kings. The Scottish traveler James Bruce was the first known European to enter his tomb in 1768. He named it 'The tomb of the Harpists' after the paintings decorating the walls of one of its side chambers of blind harpists. The tomb is KV 11.
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