Before us there now lies the Great Temple of Ramses III, which, alone of
the great temples of the New Empire, the native period of Egypt's glory,
survives in a state of reasonable preservation .
There are, of course, other
temples, such as Dendera and Edfu, which are in even better condition than
Medinet Habu ; but they are of a much later period, while the temple of Ramses
III is a genuine survival of the glorious period of the Empire .
Accordingly it has become almost customary to regard
Medinet Habu as the typical temple of the Empire, and this idea has produced
disastrous results upon the estimate which is held with regard to Egyptian
architecture generally . It seems almost impossible to dispossess some
art-critics minds of the idea that the Egyptian architect must always be judged
by Medinet Habu, which is actually a building, not of the Empire's prime, but
of its full decadence ; and its heavy columns, which have lost all resemblance
to the clustered papyrus stems and buds in which they had their origin, and are
more like swollen sausages than anything so light and graceful as the papyrus,
are continually reproduced as the type form of an Egyptian column . It would,
of course, be quite as just to accept the bulging muscles of the Farnese
Hercules as typical of Greek sculpture of the great period .
From this point of view Breasted's comment is
undoubtedly justified . " The Medinet Habu temple ", he says, "
is unique, and we must intensely regret that it was a Twentieth rather than an
Eighteenth Dynasty temple which survived " . Indeed, the visitor should go
to Medinet Habu prepared for the fact that what is to be seen there is typical,
not of Egyptian art at its summit, but of the same art when it was already far
down the hill on the way to its inevitable death . It is still impressive,
after its own fashion ; but the impression is one of more bulk and weight, and
owes nothing to real artistic skill .
In point of plan, the temple is quite a satisfactory
piece of regular Egyptian practice ; indeed it is almost an exact copy of the
Ramesseum in its details, and this, doubtless, with intent, as Ramses III
consciously set himself to imitate Ramses II in everything, even to the details
of his cartouche . But the clearness of its plan is the only merit that the
building can claim . " The lines ", says Breasted, " are heavy
and indolent, the colonnades have none of the old-time soaring vigour,
springing from the pavement, and carrying the beholder's eye involuntarily
aloft ; but they visibly labour under the burden imposed upon them and clearly
express the sluggish spirit of the decadent architect who designed them . The
work also is careless and slovenly in execution . The reliefs which cover the
vast surfaces of the Medinet Habu temple are with few exceptions but weak imitations
of the fine sculptures of Seti I at Karnak, badly drawn and executed without
feeling " .
If, however, on the other hand, the visitor will be
content to regard Medinet Habu, not as the architectural type which it never
was, but as one of the most interesting historical records in Egypt, he will be
amply repaid for his trouble in visiting it . For the temple, whatever its
artistic faults, is simply the great illustrated page which tells the not
unworthy story of how Egypt, fallen into the descending vale of years, yet
roused herself, under a really great Pharaoh, from her senile slumbers, and
shook oft, for a time, the buzzing clouds of enemies who had presumed on her
decay . The awakening, it is true, did not last ; but all the same Medinet Habu
has a fine story to tell, though it must be admitted that she tells it with
less energy than her creator had displayed in its acting .
Part ( 4 ) .. Coming SoOoOon .....
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