Page images
PDF
EPUB

the walls and columns were employed in building a barrier to keep out the waters from the city.

The damage wrought by the Christians in the Luxor temple was, as at Dêr al-Baharî, terrible, for not content with turning certain sections of it into churches, the more fanatical among them smashed statues, and disfigured basreliefs, and wrecked shrines with characteristic savage and ignorant zeal. When the Christians could afford to build churches for themselves they forsook the temple, and then the inhabitants of the town began to build mud houses for themselves in the courtyard and other parts of the building. As these fell down year by year the natives, who never repair a building if they can help it, built new ones on the old sites, and thus the temple became filled with earth and rubbish. In the XIVth century a mosque was built in the large courtyard of Rameses II. by a descendant of a Muḥammadan saint, who is said to have flourished near Mecca either during the life of Muḥammad the Prophet or shortly after; this man was called Abû Ḥagâg, and several families now living at Luxor claim him as an

ancestor.

The Obelisk, hewn out of fine Aswân granite, is one of a pair which stood before the pylon of the temple and proclaimed the names and titles of Rameses II. ; it is nearly 82 feet high. The companion obelisk now stands in the Place de la Concorde in Paris. The front of the temple was ornamented with six colossal statues of Rameses II., four standing and two seated, but of the former three have been destroyed. The seated statues, one on each side of the door, were of black granite, and on the side of the throne of the one which now remains are conventional representations of members of vanquished nations.

The top of the pylon when first built was about 80 feet above the ground, and its width was nearly 100 feet; each

of its towers was hollow, and in their front walls were channels with sockets in the ground, in which large poles. with flags flying from them were placed when Thebes was keeping a festival. The face of the pylon is covered with sculptures and texts which refer to the dedication of the pylon to Amen-Ra, and to the victory of Rameses I. over the Kheta. The battle, which took place near the city of Kadesh on the Orontes, resulted in the overthrow of a great confederation of Syrian tribes, and Rameses was greatly elated by his victory. Among the texts on the pylon is a description of the fight written by one Pen-ta-urt, and this poetical narrative of the momentous event was so much esteemed by the king, that he ordered it to be inscribed on stelæ and many public buildings throughout the country. The outsides of the walls built by Rameses II. are covered with scenes relating to the same campaign and describing the return of the king in triumph.

The doorway of the Court of Rameses II. (A) contains reliefs by Shabaka, a king of the XXVth dynasty, and in the north-west corner are the ruins of a small chapel which Rameses II. built against the pylon; a portico with two rows of pillars runs round most of the four sides. Of the reliefs on the walls some date from the reign of Amenophis III. and Heru-em-heb, but most of them have been usurped by Rameses II.; here also are figures of personifications of geographical localities bearing offerings, and in the south-west corner are figures of seventeen of the sons of Rameses II., who are making offerings at the ceremony of dedication of the pylon. These are followed by a number of sacrificial scenes. The columns of the portico are 72 in number and have lotus capitals; on each is a relief representing Rameses II. making an offering either to Amen-Rā, or Amsu, and some goddess. The little chapel in the north-west corner contains three chambers, which are dedicated respectively to Amen

Rā, Mut, and Khonsu. On each side of the doorway which leads into the colonnade Rameses II. placed a huge black granite statue of himself, and between the columns close by were eleven statues of himself in red granite; on the side of each of these last is a figure of one of his wives. The Colonnade (B) beyond the courtyard of Rameses II. is a part of the original building of Amenophis III., though the names of many other kings are found in it; but it is doubtful if any of the reliefs on the walls were made by him; the scenes represent the celebration of the festival of Åmen-Ra, the procession of sacred boats to the Nile and back, the ceremonies in the shrine, etc., and many of them date from the time of Heru-em-heb. The lotus columns, 14 in number, are massive but beautifully proportioned; they are about 51 feet high, and about 11 feet in diameter.

The Court of Amenophis III. (c) is next reached. Round three sides of this runs a colonnade with two rows of columns, and the walls are decorated with reliefs belonging to various periods, from that of Amenophis III. to that of Alexander and Philip. Beyond this courtyard is a hall containing 32 columns; the walls are ornamented with reliefs of various periods, and the occurrence of the names of several kings in this portion of the building shows that, in parts, it has been often repaired. To the left, between the two last columns, is an altar of the Roman period, with a Latin inscription dedicating it to the Emperor Augustus. Passing through the doorway, a chamber which originally had eight columns is entered; this was altered in several ways, and turned into a church by the Christians, who plastered over the interesting reliefs of the time of Amenophis III. with lime, and then painted it with elaborate designs in bright colours. On each side of this chamber is a small chapel; that on the left was dedicated to Mut, and that on the right to Khensu. Leaving the chamber which was turned into a Christian church, and

passing through a smaller chamber with four columns, the shrine of Alexander the Great is reached. In the time of Amenophis III. it contained four columns, but these Alexander removed, and turned it into a shrine in place of the old shrine which was originally in the last room of the building. In the centre a rectangular building open at both ends was built, and within this was carefully preserved the sacred boat of Rā, wherein was seated a figure of the god. The walls of this shrine are ornamented with reliefs, in which Amenophis III. is seen adoring the various gods of Thebes; the ceiling is decorated with figures of vultures and a large number of five-rayed stars painted in yellow on a blue ground. Through a doorway on the left in the sanctuary, and through a second doorway immediately on the left of it, the chamber on which is depicted the Birth of Amenophis III. is reached; the roof of the chamber is supported by three columns with lotus capitals. Here on the west wall are the following scenes, arranged in three rows:

First or Lowest Row. 1. Khnemu, seated opposite Isis, fashioning the body of the young king and his ka or double upon a potter's wheel; he predicts that the child shall be king of Egypt. 2. Amen and Khnemu holding converse. 3. Amen and Mut-em-ua, wife of Thothmes IV., and mother of Amenophis III., holding converse in the presence of the goddesses Selq, or Serq, and Neith. In the text the god Ámen declares that he had taken the form of the husband of Mut-em-ua and that he is the father of the Ichild who is to be born. 4. Amen and Thothmes IV. 5. Mut-em-ua being embraced by the goddess Isis in the presence of Amen. Second or Middle Row. I. Thoth telling the queen that Àmen has given her a son. 2. The queen being great with child, is being sustained by Khnemu and Isis, who make her to breathe "life." 3. The child is born in the presence of Thoueris, the goddess of children,

and Bes, the driver away of evil spirits from the bed of birth. 4. Isis offering the child to Amen, who addresses him as "son of the Sun." 5. The child Amenophis III, seated on the knees of Amen, whilst his destiny is being decreed in the presence of Isis or Hathor; Mut offers to him a palm branch, at the end of which is the emblem of festivals. Åmen declares that he will give him "millions of years, like the Sun." Third or Top Row.

1. The

queen seated on the bed of birth, and the child being suckled by Hathor in the form of a cow. 2. The seven Hathors (?) and two goddesses. 3. The Niles of the South and North purifying the child. 4. Horus presenting the king and his ka to Amen. 5. The gods Khnemu and Anubis. 6. The king and his ka seated and also standing before Ámen. 7. Amenophis seated on his throne. The scenes on the south wall refer to the acknowledgment of his sovereignty by the gods of Egypt. The remaining chambers of the temple are not of any special interest. It will be noted that the idea of the scenes of the Birth Chamber is copied from the temple of Hatshepset at Der el-Bahari.

II. The Temple at Karnak. The ruins of the buildings at Karnak are perhaps the most wonderful of any in Egypt, and they merit many visits from the traveller. It is probable that this spot was "holy ground" from a very early to a very late period, and we know that a number of kings from Usertsen I. to Euergetes II. lavished much wealth to make splendid the famous shrine of Amen in the Åpts, and other temples situated there. The temples of Luxor and Karnak were united by an avenue about 6,500 feet long and 80 feet wide, on each side of which was arranged a row of sphinxes; from the fact that these monuments are without names, M. Mariette thought that the avenue was constructed at the expense of the priests or the wealthy inhabitants of the town, just as in later days the

« PreviousContinue »