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This series of articles cover minor temple ruins on the West
Bank at Luxor (Ancient Thebes).
In part
one of this series, we briefly investigated 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. We also listed, with links, the major temples on the West
Bank at Thebes. In part two of this series, we will explore the temples of
Ramesses IV (mortuary), Amenophis son of Hapu, Tuthmosis
II, and the North and South temples at Nag Kom Lolah.
Nag Dom Lohal is the village that sprawls around Medinet
Habu and is considered to include the area between the temple of Amenhotep
III in the north to the Malqata
(Malkata) palace to the south. This is where the great temple of Ramesses
III was located, but there are a number of smaller temples as well. They
include:
Temple of Ramesses IV
Just across the modern road from the temple
of Amenhotep III lies the
small temple built by Ramesses IV. It is situated just behind the Office of the
Antiquities Inspector. Unfortunately, there is almost nothing left of this small
temple.
Temple of Amenophis son of Hapu
 Probably,
one of the better of the smaller temples in the area is that of a non-royal high
court official who lived during the time of Amenhotep
III. He was also named Amenhotep (or Amenophis, Greek), and he was
responsible for the construction of his king's great mortuary temple as well as
other building projects including Soleb in Lower Nubia.
Being granted the honor of his own mortuary temple undoubtedly reflects the
great status he had before Amenhotep III. Few were granted such favors. His
mortuary temple lies just behind and a little to the west of his king's mortuary
temple.
While Amenophis' mortuary temple may be tiny compared to that of Amenhotep
III's it was well designed with splendid construction. It is the largest of the
West Bank's private temples, and is just as large as, for example, the temple of
Tuthmosis III
at Gurna. In fact, it was much larger then the nearby temple of Tuthmosis
II.
This temple's facade consisted of large pylons through which one accessed a
large, tree lined court basin surrounded by a pillared portico. at the rear of
the court was a second set of pylons that communicated with the inner areas of
the temple. This section of the temple consisted of a columned court with many
small chambers, laid out in with almost perfect symmetry.
The cult of this official was considerable, outlasting many royal cults. A
degree in the 21st Dynasty
relating to this temple indicates that his cult was still flourishing after some
300 years. In fact, he was not only worshipped in this temple, but also had
chapels in the Temple of
Hatshepsut at Deir
el-Bahri, and in the Ptolemaic
(Greek) temple of Hathor
at Deir el-Medina. Apparently,
he was officially deified during the Ptolemaic era, so his cult may have lasted
for a very long time indeed.
Regardless of this temple's prominence in the area, unfortunately like most
of the other temples in this area, only scant remains survive.
Temple of Tuthmosis II
Mostly ruined and miniscule beside the much larger Temple of the commoner,
Amenophis son of Hapu, Tuthmosis
II's temple measures only a couple of dozen meters in length. It was called
"Shespet-ankh", or Chapel of Life. The temple was completed by Tuthmosis
III, Tuthmosis II's son.
The Temple of Ay and Horemheb
Ground Plan of the Temple of Horemheb on the West Bank at
Luxor, Egypt
 Ay
and Horemheb sometimes seem
to have acted as sort of a scheming pair at the end of the 18th
Dynasty after the rule of the young Tutankhamun. Ay ruled first, taking not
only Tutankhamun's
throne, but also his wife for legitimacy, and he was followed to the throne by
Horemheb. As befits the pair, Ay built his mortuary temple at the southern end
of the line of royal cult temples that fronted the west Theban hills, but soon
after his death, Horemheb took it over. Actually, Ay built the inner part of the
temple, and Horemheb the outer. When finished, Horemheb had Ay's name erased
from the inner section, thereby usurping the whole of the temple as his own.
The temple has three pylons, each leading into courts, with a palace located
in the third court. There was a large, peristyle court, and a series of pillared
halls and chambers before reaching the sanctuary. The structure lies on
sloping ground that rises at the rear, and the temple core was built of
sandstone while the surrounding or outer areas were made of mudbrick. Most of
the structure is symmetrical, with the exception of the palace in the third
court and a series of storage annexes to the left (southwest) of the inner
temple section.
The North Temple
The builder of this temple, referred to as the Northern Temple relative to
Nag Kom Lolah, is unknown, though it was partly built on the same site as a Ramesses
IV temple. It is small, and destroyed, but the structure contained all of
the architectural elements of a the classic local temples. It had a tripartite
sanctuary, and otherwise was very similar to a structure just to the south.
The South Temple
The southern temple at Nag Kom Lolah is a few meters to the south of Tuthmosis
II's temple, and is very similar to the "North Temple". However,
here, the sanctuary chambers are aligned laterally. While the floor plan of this
small temple is known, nothing much remains of the structure today.
A Map of the Temple Area on the West Bank at Thebes (Modern
Luxor) in Egypt
References:
Archives
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