We now approach the Second Court by an inclined pathway which leads
through the granite gateway of the second pylon .
This court again shows a double arrangement in its colonnades . On the
north and south sides it has single rows of bud columns, five in each row ; on
the east and west sides it has Osirid pillars, eight in each row, the west row
having a row of bud columns behind it, and thus forming a terrace vestibule to
the First Hypostyle Hall .
If the plan of this court be compared with that of the second court of
the Ramesseum, it will be seen that the Medinet Habu court is almost an exact
copy of the earlier one, save that the Ramesseum has doubled colonnades on
three sides, instead of one ; but the resemblance of the two temples is
throughout so close as to show that Ramses III was only following the plans of
Ramses II, whom he greatly admired, though, judging by results, he himself was
actually a far more capable man then the Pharaoh whom he close as his model . This
noble court, 125 feet by 138 feet, was appallingly wrecked by the early
Christians, who used it for a church, and have entirely ruined the Osirid
figures . They covered the reliefs with plaster, and roofed the court in,
putting up columns which used to encumber the ground of the court till
comparatively recent days .
We turn to the left and begin with the scenes on the back of the south
tower of the second pylon .
In the upper row is seen a number of priests bearing boats, images of
the gods, etc., while the king stands behind . This is the beginning of a
procession for the festival of Ptah-Sokar .
Beneath are warlike scenes in which the king drives prisoners and slays
enemies, as usual .
Turning to the south wall, we see priests ( upper row ) with an emblem
of Nefertûm ( son of Ptah ), while Ramses holds a cord which is pulled by his courtiers
.
Farther along, the king follows sixteen priests who carry the boat of
Sokar ; then, on the wall of the terrace, he offers before the sacred barque
and appears before Khnûm and the hawk-headed Sokar-Osiris .
Below these scenes, the king returns from battle in his chariot, with
three rows of captive Libyans in front of him, and fan-bearers behind .
Then he leads his captives before Amûn and Mût .
Then he seated in his chariot with his back to the horses, receives more
captives, and the report of the severed members of the slain .
The remainder of the south wall is taken up with a long inscription
giving details of the war .
Turning now to the scenes on the north and north-east of the court, we
have a series of scenes from the festival of the god Mîn, which are obviously
imitated from those of the corresponding court in the Ramesseum . Some of these
are striking, particularly one in which the king is borne in his palanquin,
with his pet lion beside him, on the shoulders of soldiers in gala dress, while
other soldiers, similarly decked out with feathers, march in front of him, and
priests offer incense .
The scene in which priests loose four birds, to bear the report of the
festival to the four quarters of the globe, is a copy of the similar scene in
the Ramesseum .
As is also that in which the Pharaoh cuts with a sickle a sheaf of corn
for an offering to Mîn . The lower row of scenes shows the familiar sequence of
processions of the sacred boats .
The slope which leads up to the terrace at the west end of the court is
flanked by two pedestals which once bore colossal statues of the king, now
entirely destroyed .
The rear wall of the terrace, behind the second row of the colonnade,
shows Ramses III in the presence of various gods . Along the lower row are
figures of his sons and daughters, as in the Ramesseum . From this point
onwards, the building is much more ruined .
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