Leaving the pavilion, and the other temples to right and left, we pass
straight across the court to where the great pylon still rises to an impressive
height, though its upper portion, with the overhanging cornice, has vanished .
Four
long slots in the masonry of the towers show where the four great flagstaves
were reared against the face of the building and held in position by clamps of
wood and copper which projected from the windows which are still to be seen in
the upper part of the left-hand tower ( one also survives on the right tower )
.
To the right of the slots in the right wall, Ramses, wearing the Red
Crown, smites his prisoners before Ra-Harakhte ; on the left of those on the
left tower he wears the White Crown, and smites the captives before Amen-Rê .
Both gods lead forward groups of captives .
Between the slots of the right pylon is a smaller scene of the same
kind, and beneath this is a long inscription which tells in very bombastic
language how Ramses overthrew the Libyans in the eleventh year of his reign .
Below this again, is a scene in which Ramses kneels among the leaves of the
sacred tree before Amûn ; Ptah stands behind Amûn's throne, and Thoth inscribes
the king's name on the leaves, while Safkhet stands behind the last-named god .
Entering the First Court of the temple, we notice that it has a
colonnade with calyx capitals on the south side, while the gallery on the north
side has Osirid figures, sorely ruined by early Christian fanaticism .
On the inner face of the south tower of the pylon is a huge battle
picture, showing the defeat of the Libyans in the eleventh year of the reign of
Ramses III . The Libyans are distinguished by their beards and long hair, with
the heavy side-lock . The Egyptian infantry is supplemented by Sherden (
Sardinian ) and Philistine mercenaries, the Sardinians wearing their usual
horned helmet, the Philistines their feather-crested helmets, which resemble
somewhat the headdress of a Red Indian brave . The king charges with his
chariotry into the midst of the Libyans, who are overthrown before him . At the
end of the south wall next the pylon, Ramses is seen walking in procession with
his fan-bearers . The colonnade on the south side was intended to form the
portico to a royal palace which lay immediately south of the temple .
Communication between the palace and the temple was maintained by three
large doors which open under the south colonnade, and there is also a large
window, on the right and left of which the king stands on a bracket of enemy
heads, and slays his foes .
Below this are scenes of dancers, wrestlers and fencers, the details of
which are of considerable interest . The sculptor, it is almost needless to
say, contrives always to make the Egyptian wrestler appear victorious over his
negro or Asiatic opponent . The king's soldier son Ramses watches the games .
Farther along we see the king inspecting his horses, with one of the grooms
blowing a call on the trumpet .
The rear wall of the first court is formed by the Second Pylon of the temple . On the face of the south tower Ramses presents his prisoners to Amûn and Mût . There are three rows of captives, Shakalsha ( Sicilians or Sagalassians of Pisidia ), Danaana ( Danaoi ), and Peleset ( Philistines ) .
The face of the north tower is occupied by one of the most important historical inscriptions in Egypt, or indeed in the world, which tells the story of Ramses' victory, in the eighth year of his reign, over the great league of the Sea-Peoples . The record is of great interest, of course, in the history of Egypt, as being the story of the last triumphant assertion of Egyptian power against the new forces which were coming to the front in the Mediterranean world ; but it is also of a value which can scarcely be over-estimated in connexion with the movements of the nations at this time ( 1196 B.C. ) .
Passing round to the north side of the court, behind the Osirid pillars, we have the king presenting more prisoners to the Theban triad, driving prisoners before him, as he rides in his chariot, with his pet lion running by his side, attacking an Amorite city, and shooting arrows into it, while his grooms hold his chariot behind him, standing on a balcony of his palace, with his fan-bearers, and addressing his nobles who bring more captives, and finally, on the back of the north tower of the first pylon, receiving the heaps of severed hands by means of which the Egyptians reckoned the number of enemy dead in their battles .
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