The Spectacular Tale of TUTHMOSIS 111 Gruelling March to the Battle of Megiddo

In 1798 Napoleon Bonaparte of France mounted an expedition to conquer Egypt, to his regret his military aspect was a failure and he was forced to withdraw from Egypt within three years, but the scholars he took with him to complete a survey and record all the aspects of Egyptian life  brought  Ancient Egypt to the attention of the world.

Tuthmosis 111 was given the title of 'The Egyptian Napoleon' by the French, because they were so impressed by his military genius and the fact that he spent most of his reign on campaign with other countries bringing them under the rule of ancient Egypt. With all the wealth of their tributes he made the Temples and Egypt very rich.  Karnack Temple reliefs show the Battle of Megiddo. The sixth pylon reliefs show all the important prisoners and what tribe they represented, taken into bondage as slaves.

The battle of Megiddo was one of the most important and earliest campaigns of his Tuthmosis reign. The prince of Kaddesh had united chiefs from the surrounding areas and together they were refusing to pay tributes to Egypt as they had not been enforced during the reign of Hatshepsut.  the spectacular tale of a grueling march of two months through the desert by Tuthmosis and his army to confront the prince of Kaddesh and his united enemies are given on the walls of Karnack Temple.

Tuthmosis arrived at Yemen which was the most northerly point of Egyptian supremacy; his spies had reported to him that the enemy had gathered at Megiddo. Tuthmosis and his generals met to discuss their final advance; they told the king that there were three possible routes to reach Megiddo. The most dangerous route was through the Amarna Pass which would be a constant source of fear every step they took as it was very narrow and they would have no defense from ambush or rock falls. Tuthmosis decided to go through this pass regardless of the advice of his generals; he was so determined in the belief that he would catch his enemies unaware that he rode at the front to guide his army. The march took twelve precarious hours until finally they emerged to the horror of the enemy who were totally unprepared for them as they had posted their armies on the other routes that they expected the Egyptian army to arrive at. The arrival and encampment is shown on the walls of Karnack Temple.

On the day of the battle Tuthmosis charged into battle on his gleaming chariot of electrum trampling his enemies underfoot. The enemy ranks fell into disorder with their men retreating and clambering up rope ladders to escape the ferocity of the Egyptian army. Unfortunately it is recorded that the foot soldiers were too keen to plunder from the fallen enemy soldiers, which resulted in the safe evacuation inside the city of the

remaining force. Tuthmosis was furious, he now had to lay siege to the city of Meggadio which took him a further seven months. Eventually the Prince of Kaddesh and his chiefs sent out 84 of their children with gifts and surrendered.

Tuthmosis returned to Thebes jubilant with all the spoils of his first campaign, the sixth pylon records than he had over 2,000 slaves including the children of the chiefs. 2,041 mares, 6 stallion’s and 161 foals, cattle, sheep, goats, metal stoneware and armour. Tuthmosis led a further 17 campaigns during his reign.

Tuthmosis 111 honored in every way the name of the God Amun and the memory of his Father and brother,  Tuthmosis 1 and Tuthmosis 11, but he systematically destroyed the name of Hatshepsut, and her image from the temples. 

In Karnack Temple he founded The Hall of Ancestors and erected the Hall of Pillars, and the chambers and corridors belonging to it on the east side of Karnack temple, The sixth pylon details the Battle of Megiddo. To the rear of Karnack Temple he created a Festival Hall, but instead of the usual papyrus columns, he created columns to look like the tent pegs that were used for his campaign tents.

Hatshepsut - 'Fashion for me the body of my daughter and the body of her Ka, a great queen shall I make of her"

Queen Hatshepsut Maatkare ‘Foremost of Noble Ladies, Truth is the Soul of Re'  ruled as the fifth pharaoh of the 18th dynasty of Egypt, she was the favorite daughter of Tuthmosis 1, and was married to her half brother also known as Tuthmosis. Hatshepsut and Thutmose II had a daughter named Neferure, who grew to become a Gods Wife of Amun. After having their daughter, Hatshepsut could not bear any more children.

When their father died her husband ascended the throne and became Tuthmosis 11 the 4th king of the 18th Dynasty. Tuthmosis married the courageous and energetic Hatshepsut to strengthen his right to the throne. He had a short reign with Hatshepsut when he died,  and so his son who was only two years old by a minor wife, was appointed heir and he became Tuthmosis 111, Hatshepsut became 'Guardian of the Throne' and reigned on behalf of the boy.

Initially Hatshepsut was content  to reign as regent in the early years.  During the reign of her father Tuthmosis 1 Hatshepsut had been allowed to be involved with the dealings of his government, which had obviously inspired her confidence and a strong will to get her own way in life, and so she initially used  the strength of her father's favoritism to her benefit,  she  also held  a very strong position among the Theban priests as the mortal' Gods wife of Amun,'  this position alone offered her  a superior  power,  as to be the living wife of the God Amun Ra is higher than to be the wife of a king.  with this power  and support of the priesthood of Amun, she was able to seize control she cast aside the young Tuthmosis and she sent him  away to train as a priest and scribe and then later as a soldier.

Hatshepsut ruled for 22 years, by the time of Hatshepsut’s death Tuthmosis had risen up the ranks of the army to the Rank of Commander in Chief. 

During the years that Tuthmosis was away from Waset (luxor) Hatshepsut declared herself as Pharaoh and began to dress as a man, the Osiride  statues of her at her Mortuary Temple of Dier El Bahari represent her as a king with a false beard. The relief’s  portray that it was the divine intention of both her  earthly father Tuthmosis 1, and her heavenly father Amun that she would rule Egypt, In the birth Colonnade it declares:


‘Amen –Ra called for the God Khumn the Creator and Fashioner of the Bodies of Men.’ Fashion for me the body of my daughter and the body of her Ka, a great queen shall I make of her, and honor and power shall be worthy of her dignity and glory’  ‘Amun-Ra answered Khumn ‘It shall be done as you have said.  So Khumn fashioned the body of Amen-Ra’s daughter and the body of her Ka, the two forms exactly alike, and more beautiful than the daughters of men. He fashioned them with clay from the air of his potters wheel and Heqet goddess of birth with the frogs head, knelt by his side holding the sign of life towards the clay that the bodies of Hatshepsut and her Ka might be filled with life and breath, and so one of the greatest queens of Egypt was announced to the world. 

When Tuthmosis 111 arrived back in Waset  he had many of Hatshepsuts cartouches and images erased so that her name would be forgotten, and she would be denied an eternal life, he had a wall built around her obelisk in Karnack Temple to bind the energy of the obelisk.

In 1903 Howard Carter found an undecorated tomb in the Valley of the Kings that had been pillaged in antiquity, inside the tomb laid the mummies of two women, this tomb was not of much interest to Howard carter as it did not contain treasure that it was his ambition to find, so he sealed the tomb and wrote a few notes of its condition and whereabouts. Three years later Edward Ayrton entered the tomb that had been registered as KV60 to collect one of the women who was laid in a coffin so that she could be shipped to Cairo; the inscriptions identified her as Sitre, who was the wet nurse of Hatshepsut. The tomb was then sealed again leaving the remaining woman alone to the silence of more years in an empty tomb,  its whereabouts were then lost and the lady forgotten about until another eighty years had passed, and then in June 1989 an archaeologist named Donald P Ryan rediscovered the tomb again, rubble and sand were cleared away until he was able to climb down a staircase leading into the depths of the tomb where fragments of pottery wooden coffin pieces and mummy wrappings littered the floor. Arriving at the burial chamber he found the mummy of the abandoned lady lying in the middle of the room. 
Although no inscriptions were found that could help identify the lady she was obviously of importance and high ranking as she had been buried in the Valley of the Kings, although the tomb she was found in was undecorated I began to wonder could Tuthmosis 111 have wished to deny Hatshepsut the pleasure and magical words with the prayers of a decorated tomb? That would assist her journey to an eternal life.


In a niche Dr.Ryan also discovered a small piece of a face from a coffin, thieves had removed the gold foil covering, but this fragment had a notch at the chin which could have been used to hold a false beard, Hatshepsut wore a false beard to represent herself as a pharaoh. 
The mummy was taken to Cairo and quite a few years later it was scanned and it revealed that it was an obese woman between the ages of 45 and 60 who had bad teeth who had also suffered from cancer, evidence of which can be seen in the pelvic region and the spine.

Embalmers typically eviscerated the dead before embalming them but preserved the organs in jars and boxes.Cairo museum had a small wooden box that they also decided to scan as it bore the cartouche, or royal seal, of Hatshepsut and contained a liver, the scan revealed that also inside this box was a tooth.  An important dentist was asked to study the tooth as the mummy was missing a tooth, and it was found to be an exact match for the mummy.


I have always admired Hatshepsut, and I do believe that you can’t keep a good woman down, she deserves the best, and I wonder if that is also why her Osiris statues smile as they survey the land from the terrace of her mortuary temple, this woman who became a King has risen again and will take her rightful place.

The Tomb of Rekmire - An Ancient Egyptian Judge & Vizier of Tuthmosis 111

A judge is a straight thinking direct man, and Rekhmire’s Tomb symbolizes this with its sombre reversed T shaped design. The walls detail Rekhmire’s position and responsibilities as a judge, on entering the 66ft long and narrow vestibule I turned to the left to see a court in process with prisoners being brought before the court by the police.

Rekhmire offers advice on the walls of his tomb on the qualities necessary to hold the position of a Judge: ‘Know how to inspire fear and make yourself respected. He who is held in awe is a good judge, but the true function of a judge is to practice justice, if you fear him too much then there must be something wrong with him’ On the installation of a judge he advises; ‘see to those things that can be justly accomplished, do justice to everyman, a judge has a visible face, the water and the wind bear witness to his deeds which none can be aware of’.
On the wall opposite the court scene are five rows of interesting paintings of the conquered nations bringing their tributes to Egypt that Rekhmire must record and report to the king, At the top from the lands of punt  their people bring incense trees and baboons, the living animal representing the god of magical words Thoth, beneath them follow the Mediterranean peoples wearing kilts and carrying decorative vases and pots in the shape of animal heads, they bring silver and lapis lazuli,  a little monkey is shown cheekily climbing up the neck of a giraffe as the Kushittes of Africa escort cattle and leopards they carry the large eggs of the Ostrich and the feathers used for the royal fans
Tusks of Ivory are balanced over  their shoulders and in their hands they bring precious stones and

gold, the Syrians with their neat pointed black beards all dressed in long white gowns bring a young elephant and brown bear,  carts weapons and magnificent striding white horses. Finally slaves from all nations Following these scenes  across the wall I enter through the doorway directly facing the   door I find myself in a very long and narrow chapel like a hallway or  corridor, the right hand side represents the funeral aspect and events, with beautiful musicians playing their instruments at the funeral feast,  while the opposite wall details the depth of his power and position and the  work he was responsible for as he supervised all the work in the Temple of Amun and its workshops, the  craftsmen are busy making bricks, blowing glass, making gold, and under Rekhmire’s Instructions making a sphinx and cutting a seated colossal statue of  Tuthmosis. As I progress down the narrow chapel the gradient of the ceiling rises to a great height giving the impression of   mountain, Rekhmire had reached the top of the mountain when he became Vizier, he virtually controlled the land when Tuthmosis 111 was on Campaigns, which was for most of his reign as he was a Pharaoh determined to bring other nations under the submission of Egypt with his military force once again. At the end of the chamber looking up to the top of the wall a hole is cut that probably held the statue of Rekhmire where he would sit on his own throne looking down on his achievements in life.

Karnack Temple

KARNACK TEMPLE

The Earthly Home of the God Amun
Iput Isut - The Sacred Place

‘Man is clay and straw,
God is the builder,
Each day he demolishes and re-builds’- Amenemope

Every Egyptian temple is a symbolic impression of the universe; it is a picture that has been created from stone to describe the first moment of creation, the pylons are the east and western deserts, the portals represent the path that the River Nile would flow though and gradually the earth rises as you reach the mound of creation, the temple inspired the belief in their Gods and Kings, fulfilling both the human aspirations and the spiritual needs of the ancient Egyptians.

Each temple was also considered the home of a god; Karnack is the Home of the god that rose to supreme importance in ancient Egypt, The God Amun. This temple is so vast that I found one visit was not enough to appreciate it, and so I made several visits. One of the most interesting and dramatic ways to experience Karnack Temple is  during an  evening when the sound and light show is presented Standing in the darkness in the midst of a crowd of chattering people I squeezed between a row of guardian sphinx that sat high above us on pedestals leading to the entrance portal of the first pylon, their ribbed horns curled around towards the face of a Ram, the head then morphed into the body of a lion, standing between giant paws the sphinx protectively enclosed a small figure of a pharaoh. The crashing sound of a gong suddenly vibrated across the evening and brought our procession   to silence, then the darkness was eradicated by a blaze of light, and the pylons glowed before us,   trumpets cut through the air announcing the arrival of a regal presence, and then a powerful male voice declared:  ‘You are now at The House of the Father.’……………. More dramatic music………. then……… ‘Here the Creator was worshipped for over 2,000 years,’ and so the story of Karnack was relayed to us by voices of long dead kings and queens in the iridescent lights and the night.  

Karnack sprawls across the landscape, its heart still stands but its body was broken into pieces leaving the ground littered with broken columns and pylons as its history expanded, enclosing thousands of years of inspiration and belief. At its heart is the Great Temple of Amun; nearby are smaller temples dedicated to his son Khonsu and his wife Mut whose name means mother. Over the centuries each Pharaoh ruled his people as The Son of the Father. He was considered as the living incarnation of Horus who was the divine son of Isis and Osiris.  Horus   protected the dynasty and the body of the king who was an absolute monarch, the ancient Egyptians believed that through the king and his communication with the gods Divine order stability and prosperity would be maintained in their land and chaos would be avoided. The king was the High Priest of all Egypt. During his reign it was the duty of each Pharaoh to add to the Temple and to honor the gods and his own ancestors. Some of Karnack’s sections fell into disrepair or were left uncompleted, over the centuries each succeeding Pharaoh carried on the work of his predecessors and In return for the honors and offerings, they believed that the  gods would bestow blessings of victories in battle, recovery from sickness and plentiful harvests. Only the Pharaoh and priests had access to this sacred home of Amun. 

In 1798 Napoleon Bonaparte of France mounted an expedition to conquer Egypt, to his regret his military aspect was a failure and he was forced to withdraw from Egypt within three years, but the scholars he took with him to complete a survey and record all the aspects of Egyptian life  brought  Ancient Egypt to the attention of the world. 

Walking through the first pylon  the immense width of the pylons  humbled me and made me feel as  insignificant as an ant, graffiti has been scratched on the great blocks of stone, almost at the top on the right hand side of the first pylon I saw   inscribed into the stones the record of the French arrival at Karnack ‘TheRepublique Francaise  Geographic des Monuments’ they had given the longitude and latitude of all the temples that they had studied in Egypt during their expedition with Napoleon Bonaparte. This deep entrance leads into the large first main courtyard where three barque chapels sit snugly in the corner; they were created by Seti 1 for Amun Mut and their son Khonsu.  Across the courtyard on to my right was the temple of Ramses 111, which is a miniature version of his mortuary temple known as Medinet Habu.

A single colossal statue of Ramses the Great dominates this large courtyard, his wife daughter Meritamun the White Queen stands between his legs, the statue is at the entrance to the second pylon, that was begun during the reign of his father Seti 1, its sheer size is emphasized by a fully grown palm tree behind it, after passing through the portal between the pylons; I entered the   most amazing Hypostyle hall, the reception area of the gods, its awesome lotus columns represent the plants that came into being on the mound of creation. The lotus columns are a symbolism of Horus who was born on the waters of creation, the lotus plant represents the first sunrise on the day of creation. Each evening the lotus submerges beneath the waters, and at dawn it rises symbolically to worship the sun again, it encompasses all the forces of nature and lives in all the four elements, its roots are bound to the earth and its stem rises through water, it flourishes in the air and blooms in the sunlight.  Standing in this incredible hall you are overpowered by 134 of these gigantic columns, 122 are in the open papyrus bud style, and another 12 in the central isle are closed.  I had a dream once that I closed my eyes and I was carried on the wind across the oceans to that magical forest of Redwoods in America where the trees seem to touch the sky, it must be one of the most natural heavenly places on earth, I never came close to that forest but I found the forest of my dreams in Karnack temple, but Instead of bark texture   I saw hieroglyphs all the way up these gigantic stone forest columns.  Standing submerged in this awesome forest during the night a voice speaks out and you hear the prayers of the priests, 'Hail to thee Amon, Master of Terror and King of Calm, King of Heaven, Creator of the Stars, I worship thee Amon.'

Walking through this wondrous forest  again one afternoon, a vibrant orange and black  stripped Hoopoe bird flew down and landed at the side of me, then its headdress similar to that of an American Red Indian chief neatly closed up as the bird  settled a few feet from me, I froze so as not to frighten it,  and as I stood quietly observing it, I almost felt that it was speaking to me and telling me that the Hall was as I had imagined it, the columns were  real live trees, and the temple was alive and accepted by the bird as part of creation.  I have never thought of myself as strange, although others have doubted my sanity on occasions, but I must admit even I was really surprised when I went to collect my photographs from the shop on the Corniche, when looking through them a very excited man in the shop told me that this bird was sacred to the Moslems and was written about in the Koran, the bird was a messenger who spoke to Sulliman informing him of the land that he had flown to and the heathen religion of the Queen of Sheba. I concluded that god is everywhere and speaks to us whenever we are touched by the divine as I had been in this amazing forest of stone within the Hypostyle hall of Karnack temple.

As I wandered through the columns I arrived at a side entrance into the hall, along this wall the Sed festival of Seti 1 is celebrated, from here Seti invites the gods into the house. Thoth the God of  the Moon, Magic, writing and wisdom stands behind the king who kneels beneath the tree of Life, Thoth has a lean sturdy body but his head is that of an ibis bird whose long  beak curves like the crescent of the Moon, he is the scribe of the Gods who keeps all the records of the living and those in the underworld, with his reed pen he writes the kings name in a  fruit that he then passes to Seti who hangs it on onto the magical Tree of Life for the regeneration of his reign. Seti is wearing the Kepresh ceremonial crown and holding a hek scepter to symbolize that he is the Sheppard and guardian of his people. The Goddess Sekhmet stands the other side of the tree of life behind the king, her elegant body is overshadowed by her golden mane and  the warm  regal face of a lion;  her strength and ferociousness was that of a lion, causing fear amongst  both gods and men , in a rage  she would  punish or  annialate all  wrongdoers,  she was the kings protector  in battle who ran before his chariot  slaughtering  his enemies, she preserved him from evil,  she stands behind him in this ceremony holding the palm of years from which a collection of Ankhs dangle that would jingle in the breeze,   this is a conduit for the divine power of life and permeates the universe.

To complete his ceremony Seti kneels before Amun holding the symbols of the Sed festival in his left hand, the God Amun reaches out to bless the king touching his Atef crown with uraei on disks all surrounding the horns of Khumn.

After the death of Seti his son Ramses 11 completed the Hypostyle hall where he erected 54 columns on the south side, and a stone wall to surround the whole hypostyle hall on the east. Ramses reigned for 67 years and fathered over 100 children!!!  During the fifth year of Ramses reign, a war broke out between Egypt and Kheta in which Kaddesh was the rallying point. This battle is also detailed on the pylons of Luxor Temple and his Mortuary temple the Rammessium on the west bank.  At Karnack the camp life and the overthrow of the enemy are described in detail, The inscriptions praise the king as a brave and a  bold conqueror of nations, firm on horseback and glorious in his chariot, whom none can escape when he seizes his bow and arrows.

Walking through the third pylon we reach an earlier dynasty where there once stood several obelisks, one of the obelisks was erected by Tuthmosis 1 who was the father of Hatshepsut. Her obelisk is to be found between the fourth and fifth pylon. Her rose granite obelisks were quarried at Aswan and took seven months to complete, originally there were two, one has fallen and its pieces are spread around the temple grounds. The tip of the obelisk was originally gilded with gleaming electrum a mixture of gold and silver, and was a beacon to guide travelers to the temple.

The inscription written on the obelisk from Hatshepsut expresses her devotion to Amon Ra:

'I have created this work with a heart full of love for Amon
Initiated into his secrets of origin
Instructed through his beneficial power
I have not forgotten what he has ordained
My Majesty recognizes his Divinity
I have acted on his orders
It is he who has guided me
I have never slept because I was pre-occupied with his temple
I have never turned away from what he has commanded,
My heart moved intuitively with The Father
I have entered intimately into the plans of his heart
I have never turned my back on the Master of totality
But rather I have turned my face towards him

After the death of Hatshepsut her co- regent Tuthmosis111 had a high wall built around her Obelisks and he defaced her cartouches where ever they occurred. The carved tip of Hatshepsut’s fallen obelisk can be found near the sacred lake where the priests purified themselves several times a day as nothing unclean must come before the presence of their gods.    

Tuthmosis 111 honored in every way the name of Amun and the memory of his relations apart from Hatshepsut, whose name he systematically destroyed from the temples. He founded The Hall of Ancestors and erected the Hall of Pillars, and the chambers and corridors belonging to it on the east side of Karnack temple, The sixth pylon details the Battle of Megiddo, which was one of the most important and earliest campaigns of Tuthmosis' reign. The prince of Kaddesh had united chiefs from the surrounding areas and together they were refusing to pay tributes to Egypt as they had not been enforced during the reign of Hatshepsut. The relief’s on the sixth pylon record's the spectacular tale of a grueling march of two months through the desert by Tuthmosis and his army to confront the prince of Kaddesh and his united enemies

Tuthmosis arrived at Yemen which was the most northerly point of Egyptian supremacy; his spies had reported that the enemy had gathered at Megiddo. Tuthmosis and his generals met to discuss their final advance; they told the king that there were three possible routes to reach Megiddo. The most dangerous route was through the Armana Pass which would be a constant source of fear every step they took as it was very narrow and they would have no defense from ambush or rock falls. Tuthmosis decided to go through this pass regardless of the advice of his generals; he was so determined in the belief that he would catch his enemies unaware that he rode at the front to guide his army. The march took twelve precarious hours until finally they emerged to the horror of the enemy who were totally unprepared for them as they had posted their armies on the other routes that they expected the Egyptian army to arrive at. The encampment is shown on the walls of Karnack. On the day of the battle Tuthmosis charged into battle on his gleaming chariot of electrum trampling his enemies underfoot. The enemy ranks fell into disorder with their men retreating and clambering up rope ladders to escape the ferocity of the Egyptian army. Unfortunately it is recorded that the foot soldiers were too keen to plunder from the fallen enemy soldiers, which resulted in the safe evacuation inside the city of the remaining force. Tuthmosis was furious; he now had to lay siege to the city of Meggadio which took him a further seven months. Eventually the Prince of Kaddesh and his chiefs sent out 84 of their children with gifts and surrendered. Tuthmosis returned to Thebes jubilant with all the spoils of his first campaign, the sixth pylon records than he had over 2,000 slaves including the children of the chiefs. 2,041 mares, 6 stallion’s and 161 foals, cattle, sheep, goats, metal stoneware and armour. Tuthmosis led a further 17 campaigns during his reign, the columns in his festival Hall are representations of the poles used for his campaign tent.

 To the rear of the Festival hall is an unusually decorated small room known as the Botanical garden, the walls are decorated with plants and animals that he brought back from his campaigns with Meggadio and Syria.

During the 24th year of his reign Tuthmosis built the whole northern wing of the temple and the outer walls that were designed to represent the waters of chaos.

The victories of Tuthmosis campaigns brought countries and cities of Western Asia into his power, Libya Nubia and Ethiopia brought prisoners of different races to the temple that were forced to labor under the Kings Chief Architect at the temple making bricks and building a new storehouse. The sculptures that have survived from the reign of Tuthmosis 111 are those of his grandfather Amenophis 1, his father Tuthmosis 1, and brother Tuthmosis 11 these stand before one of the southern temple wings.

An inscription of Tuthmosis 111 states:
'I have seen the transformation of the Divine principle of the two regions of light on the secret roads of heaven. The divine light speaks through me; I was bathed in its radiance and fully nourished by divine wisdom.

The journey through Karnack Temple with the Sound and Light show ends at the sacred lake. Every morning at sunrise in ancient Egypt the priests would release a goose onto this lake; they did this because of the creation myth. It was believed that four  sets of Gods had come from the  cosmos, the milky way in the heavens, They were the rulers of infinity, the rulers of darkness,  of primordial waters, and the secretive Amun and his partner Amaunet  who  ruled hidden things. Together they caused a blinding light and eruption on earth, and a primeval mound was created from the waters of Nun, on the primeval mound of earth,  a cosmic goose  then laid an egg, from which The God Amun hatched who then created everything else in the world.

I can still remember my first visit to the sacred home of Amun, and the grandeur that the sound and light show re-created, the memories have been emblazoned in my heart and colored by the deep blue night of the sky as the temple lit up beneath the moon and stars, with it's power and majesty still reflected in the sacred lake.