The Great Hypostyle Hall & The First Vestibule ( Roman Sanctuary ) in Luxor Temple .. Part ( 5 )

The Great Hypostyle Hall :-

From the Forecourt, we now pass into the Hypostyle Hall, which has 32 columns, arranged in four rows of eight columns each . Ramses IV and Ramses VI have usurped the columns by inscribing their cartouches on them .

The walls have suffered much ; but their reliefs show Amenhotep III before the god of Thebes . While inscriptions of Seti I and Ramses II mention repair work done by them in this hall, and there is also a set of cartouches of Ramses III .

On the left hand, as we go southwards, between the last two columns, stands a Roman altar dedicated to the Emperor Constantine .

At the rear of the hall, and entering from it, were two small chapels, the right on is for Khonsu, and the left one is for Mût, and a staircase .

The First Vestibule ( Roman Sanctuary ) :-

The First Vestibule, into which we now pass from the Hypostyle Hall, originally possessed eight columns ; but these disappeared in the conversion of the place into a Christian Church ; a change which it suffered in the fourth century of our era .

At the south end, where the entrance to the sanctuary of the temple should have been, an apsidal recess, flanked by two granite columns with Corinthian capitals ( the old entrance leading into the interior of the temple was changed into a hole which allows the visitors to passage into the temple ), was constructed, and the beautiful reliefs of Amenhotep III were duly covered, for the protection of sensitive Christian souls, with a thick coat of Christian whitewash, on which paintings were executed . Fortunately the whitewash is now peeling off again, and the reliefs of the 18^th dynasty are becoming visible .

The north wall has a scene of procession of King Amenhotep ( figure of the king now destroyed ) going to the worship of Amûn, with priests and musicians, fan-bearers, courtiers and soldiers .

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