This is, of course, the supreme object of interest at Medinet Habu, and
to it most of our attention must be devoted . In approaching it, however, we
have first to pass the pavilion of Ramses III,
and the small temple of
Amenartais ( Amenirdis ), and it will be best to deal with them in their order,
and then proceed to the great temple, leaving the 18th Dynasty building
for later notice .
The temenos at Medinet Habu was
enclosed, as usual in Egypt, by a wall of crude brick in this case of the great
height of 59 feet . Before this, on the south-eastern face, was a crenellated
stone wall 13 feet high, with a gate flanked by two porters lodges .
Passing this gate ( pavilion ), we are confronted by a remarkable
building, of a kind unique in Egypt . This is the pavilion of Ramses III, known
also as the High Gate . It is neither more nor less than an Egyptian version of
a Syrian fortress, one of the Migdols, which the Pharaohs of the
Empire had so often to storm or starve out during their campaigns in Syria .
The main building consists of two crenellated towers, with a gateway
between them ; and no doubt Ramses amused himself here by representing in Egypt
the kind of thing which had more than once given him enough trouble in
Palestine . The pavilion sits astride the great mud-brick temenos wall, and forms the actual entrance to the
sacred enclosure and the possible palace south of it .
From the style of decoration within the building, it may be supposed
that Ramses himself occasionally visited it with his harem ladies ; but, on the
other hand, these harem scenes may have a mortuary significance, and may
represent the pleasures of home life to which his soul would return in the
underworld, as the king had returned to them in life from his campaigning in
foreign lands .
The external decoration, however, is of a different sort . On the two
faces of the towers, Ramses ( left ) slays his enemies of Nubia and Libya
before Amen-Rê, and ( right ) does the same thing before Harakhte ; the foes,
in this case being the Sea-People who threatened Egypt during his reign like
Tuirsha ( Tyrrhenians ), Zakru, Sherden ( Sardinians ), Shakalsha ( Sicilians
), Peleset ( Philistines ), Hittites and Amorites .
In the court between the towers we have on either hand representations
of Ramses leading prisoners into the presence of Amen-Rê . Two seated black
granite figures of the lioness-headed goddess Sekhmet suggest martial exploits,
as Sekhmet was the goddess to whom Rê, in the ancient legend, entrusted the
slaying of the rebellious children of men .
Behind the two Sekhmets, the king appears before Safkhet, Ptah, Atûm,
Anhûret, and other gods . Passing on to the inner doorway, Ramses is seen (
right ) smiting down his foes, assisted in the slaughter by his pet lion a
feature in which he imitated his model, Ramses II ; and ( left ) bringing
prisoners before Amûn . On the rear face of the building he presents his
prisoners of war to the gods .
We now ascend the south tower by a modern staircase ( now, not open to
the public ), and reach a chamber which was originally separated by a ceiling
and floor from the chamber above it . Floor and ceiling have now disappeared,
so that the upper room is seen from the one below .
It is upon the walls of this upper room that the
famous Harem Scenes are depicted . These are often spoken of as indicating a
life of Oriental profligacy ; actually they are quite innocent, unless chucking
a little lady under the chin has become a crime . The harem ladies are not
overdressed ; but overdressing is not usually conspicuous in Egyptian festal
scenes anywhere .
The ideas of Ramses as to the employment of his soul
after death were not of the most spiritual type, contemplation of his martial
triumphs, the sight from his windows of the capital where he had reigned in
life, and, on his inner walls, the vision of the frivolities of his palace ;
but if he was no better than most of his fellow-country men, he has no worse,
except in having greater opportunity .
One of the curiosities of the pavilion is the set of
consoles which project from the outer walls of the tower below the window, and
which are carved into the representation of foreign captives lying upon their
faces, and pinned down by the weight of the masonry above them . It has been
suggested that the open spaces above the brackets were the living tombs of
actual captives, who were built into the wall so that King Ramses might always
have the comforting thought in death that his enemies were still the slaves of
his soul ; but the Egyptians were not, on the whole, needlessly cruel, and what
we know of the conduct of Ramses from such incidents as his behaviour to the
guilty parties in the harem conspiracy does not incline us to accuse him of
such pitiless vindictiveness .
The brackets more likely carried royal statues, which
would thus trample continually on the necks of the Pharaoh's enemies . Pharaoh
frequently had such representations of enemies on his footstool, and even on
his sandals ; it pleased him, and did not hurt them .
We now pass out of the pavilion into the sacred enclosure . On our right is the 18th Dynasty temple, to which we shall return ; on our left the small Temple of Amenartais ( or Amenirdis ) .
This great lady, whose alabaster statue we have already seen at the Cairo Museum, was daughter of Kashta, the Ethiopian ruler, and wife of Piankhy II . Her reign was about 700 B.C., but was more ecclesiastical than secular .
A four-columned hall leads us into the vaulted sanctuary, which is surrounded by an ambulatory . On the left side of the doorway Amenartais makes offerings to Anubis, and Princess Shepenôpet, daughter of Piankhy II offers to Hathor for Amenartais . On the right Amenartais is led by Thoth and Anubis, and Shepenôpet makes offering to the queen's Ka .
Three small chapels adjoin the main temple, and are dedicated to Queen Nitocris, granddaughter of Amenartais, to Shepenôpet, and to Queen Mehtienusekht . The last of these chapels had a sort of crypt, now visible, as the flooring above it has broken down .
We now pass out of the pavilion into the sacred enclosure . On our right is the 18th Dynasty temple, to which we shall return ; on our left the small Temple of Amenartais ( or Amenirdis ) .
This great lady, whose alabaster statue we have already seen at the Cairo Museum, was daughter of Kashta, the Ethiopian ruler, and wife of Piankhy II . Her reign was about 700 B.C., but was more ecclesiastical than secular .
A four-columned hall leads us into the vaulted sanctuary, which is surrounded by an ambulatory . On the left side of the doorway Amenartais makes offerings to Anubis, and Princess Shepenôpet, daughter of Piankhy II offers to Hathor for Amenartais . On the right Amenartais is led by Thoth and Anubis, and Shepenôpet makes offering to the queen's Ka .
Three small chapels adjoin the main temple, and are dedicated to Queen Nitocris, granddaughter of Amenartais, to Shepenôpet, and to Queen Mehtienusekht . The last of these chapels had a sort of crypt, now visible, as the flooring above it has broken down .
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