Mention the West
Bank at Luxor
(ancient Thebes)
and most people who have any knowledge of ancient
Egypt may think of the tombs in the Valley
of the Kings, the Ramesseum
and the Temple
of Hatshepsut,
as well as a few other monuments. But this vast necropolis
is almost unimaginatively complex, and beyond the many
thousands of tombs, obscure temples and chapels ruins dot
this landscape. In this short series of articles, we will
examine "the other temples" of the West Bank. It
should be noted that the reason most of these temples are
fairly unknown is that nothing much physically remains of
them for the most part. Major temples that we have already
documented include
- Amenhotep
III, Temple of - West Bank, Luxor
- Deir el Bahari,
Temple of - West Bank, Luxor
- Horus,
Temples of (at Thoth Hill) - West Bank, Luxor
- Mentuhotep
II, Mortuary Temple of - West Bank, Luxor
- Merenptah,
Mortuary Temple of - West Bank, Luxor
- Ramesseum - West Bank, Luxor
- Ramesses III, Temple of - West Bank, Luxor
- Seti I Temple of Millions of
Years - West Bank, Luxor
- Tuthmosis
III, Temple of - West Bank, Luxor
In part one of this series, we will briefly investigate
the ruins of the Temples belonging to Amenhotep
I, Amenhotep
II, Siptah, the Colonnaded Temple of Ramesses
IV, the Ramessid Temple, the Chapel of the White Queen
and the private temple of Nebwenenef
A map of the Temple area on the West Bank
at Luxor, Egypt
The Temple of Amenhotep I
This temple is often mentioned in conjunction with Amenhotep
I's principle queen, Ahmose Nefertari, who apparently
had her own cult worship at this temple. Though this king's
tomb has yet to be found, he and his queen's mortuary temple
was discovered on the edge of the floodplain just to the
south of Dra Abu el-Naga. This possibly made him the first
king to locate his mortuary temple in an area other than
that of his tomb, or at least the first ruler of the New
Kingdom to do so. There have been a number of blocks
recovered from this temple, many of which depict the king's Sed-festival.
Other recovered items include various statues and stele
fragments, but as usual with these temples, virtually
nothing else remains.
The Temple of Amenhotep II
A temple commissioned by Amenhotep
II lies just ot the north of the site on which the Ramesseum
would later be built. Though little remains of this temple
due to the plunder of the temple's stone at an early
date, we know that it was probably small considering
the long reign of this king. It had a court bordered on all
four sides by a columned portico. Petrie,
in his investigation of the temple, discovered foundation
plaques.
 The Temple of Nebwenenef
Occasionally, a high official would gain such favor with
his ruler that he might be allowed to build his own temple.
Such was the case with Nebwenenef, who was a high priest of
Onuris and Hathor
at Dendera.
He achieved the office of first prophet of Amun in only the
first year of Ramesses
II's rule, who granted him the unusual opportunity to
build his own mortuary temple on the West Bank of ancient
Thebes. Nebwenenef's small facility was built beneath the
slope of Dra Abu el-Naga, very near the temple
of Ramesses II's father, Seti
I. Within this temple was found two broken colossi of
Ramesses II, lying at the entrance to the court, though the
rest of the temple is now destroyed.
The Colonnaded Temple of Ramesses IV
The mortuary temple of Ramesses
IV was constructed at the entrance to the bay of Deir
el-Bahri, just north of Hatshepsut's
famous Temple.
A number of Egyptologists investigated the ruins, including Carter
and Spiegelberg, but very little was discovered other than
foundation deposits, along with a few inscribed sandstone
blocks. This structure is now also completely
destroyed.
The Ramessid Temple
Ramesses
IV at first decided to build a large mortuary temple
just to the south of his Colonnaded temple. However, after
deciding to build a little to the north, he abandoned this
project, but additional work may have been performed on this
temple by Ramesses
V and VI.
Nevertheless, it appears that this temple remained
unfinished. Archaeological investigations of the site
unearthed foundation deposits, and many re-used blocks from
various earlier temples including those of Tuthmosis
II, Amenhotep
II, Hatshepsut,
Ramesses II,
Merenptah
and Ramesses
III. And again, as with most temples in this area,
virtually no remains are to be found of the temple
today.
Temple of Siptah
Situated between the temples of Tuthmosis
III and the Ramesseum
is the monument built by the relatively unknown 19th Dynasty
King, Siptah. Though Petrie
examined this site, as he did most all of the minor temples
in the area, virtually nothing of importance was found other
than foundation deposits of Siptah and chancellor Bay. While
the function of this temple seems to be unexplained, it
should be noted that Siptah and his queen, Tawosret
(Tausert) apparently also built another temple on the
west bank. It is located about half way between the temples
of Tuthmosis
IV and Merenptah.
Hardly anything is know of this second temple, and the only
items discovered in its ruins were jar fragments and small
stone and faience plaques.
Chapel of the White Queen
 The name for this temple was derived from a pale
limestone bust of Merit-Amun,
who was both the oldest daughter and wife of Ramesses
II, that was discovered at the site. It depicts her as a
"Sistrum-player of Mut" and "Dancer of Horus",
but she also held the titles of "Priestess of Het-Hert);
Songstress of Atum; and Ritual in addition to being "the One Who Fills the
Forecourt with the Scent of Her Fragrance; Superior of the Harem of
Amun-Ra; the Eldest Daughter of the King and Nefertari, with the Splendid Face; Magnificent
in the Palace; the Beloved of the Lord of the Two lands; She
Who Stands by Her Master like Sothis is Beside Orion; and One is Satisfied with What is Said When She Opens
Her Mouth to the Lord of the Two Lands" This small chapel is located just west of the Temple of
Amenhotep
II, not far from the Ramesseum.
In a recent discovery made at the site, four amazing status, dating to the Middle Kingdom, were discovered. Unfortunately all of
them have had their names defaced, but it is believed they were set up in the shrine of one of
the nearby tombs.
References:
Archives
|
