We are return to the small temple of Ramses III, which
interrupts the row of Bubastite columns on the south side of the court . Being
of 20th dynasty date, this temple was obviously here before the
court came into being, and it is plain that Ramses III considered the great
temple to be completed by the pylon ( No. II ) of Ramses I which, in his day,
formed the west front of the temple ; otherwise he would never have placed his
temple where it was bound to be absorbed in any subsequent extensions .
In spite of the smallness of this temple, which only
measures 170 feet in length, it is, like the temple of Khonsu, a characteristic
example of a typical and simple Egyptian temple of the Later Empire, built
throughout on a single impulse, and uncomplicated by later additions .
The pylon, which has been considerably ruined in its
upper portions, is adorned by reliefs of Ramses III slaughtering captives, whom
he grasps by the hair in a manner with which we shall become familiar at
Karnak, in the presence of Amûn, who delivers to him three rows of captive
cities, each represented by a human figure rising out of a cartouche with the
name of the city .
Ramses III bears the Double Crown on the left-hand
tower, and the Red Crown on the right . He wears the Double Crown above the nemes headdress, according
to the ungraceful custom of the later imperial period .
In front of the pylon stand two somewhat clumsy and
ill-proportioned statues of the king, in sandstone . The statues have once been
coloured .
We now enter the Peristyle Forecourt . The roofed
gallery which runs round the court has its architraves supported on each side
by eight square pillars, each bearing on its front an Osirid figure of the king
. These figures have been much mutilated, and only three now retain their
heads, which are badly damaged .
The reliefs on the back wall of the pylon show Ramses
receiving from Amûn the symbol for jubilees, indicating that a long reign was
promised the king . The east wall of the court has a procession in which the
king leads the priests who carry the sacred barques of Amûn, Mût, and Khonsu ;
while on the western wall the procession is one in which the statue of Mîn, the
desert-god indentified with Amûn-Rê, is carried to its shrine .
We pass up a gently inclined plane into the Vestibule,
or Pronaos . Its roof is supported in front by four Osirid figures against
pillars, and behind this row is another of four papyrus-bud columns . The
pillars in front are united by screen-walls, with reliefs . Between the columns
of the vestibule and its back wall are the lower parts of two black granite
statues of Sekhmet . The reliefs on the wall are badly damaged .
The doorway by which we pass into the next hall has on
its jambs figures of the king, which were once inlaid with bronze or gold .
Passing through this entrance we find ourselves in the Hypostyle Hall, which
has eight columns with bud capitals, and reliefs of the usual type, with the
king offering in the presence of various gods .
Part ( 17 ) .. The Southern Buildings Of The Great Temple Of Amûn .. Coming SoOoOon .....
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