Guided
Tour of Ancient Egypt
by Darlene Bishop, Kent
School District, WA
Original Text
© Darlene Bishop
Temples
Temples were erected by various
kings in honor of a god. They were always built on the east bank
of the Nile because the sun rises in the east and travels across
the sky and dies or sets in the west. All life was based on Atom
or Ra, god of the sun. After death, a person traveled under the
earth from west to east to be reborn; however, they traveled
through several gates to reach their destination. Behind these
gates adversity had to be overcome with the help of the snake
who took on wings or feet depending upon the type of adversity.
Amun at Karnak
Luxor
Abu Simbel
Philae
Edfu
Kom Ombo
Hatshepsut
Karnak
Karnak hosts several temples built by kings over 2,000 years
from the rise of Egypt to its fall in 1800 B.C. The area covers
sixty acres seeming to go on forever including a Sacred Lake.
Behind the second pylon or gateway is the famous avenue or forest
of columns. One and a half acres are packed with thick stone
columns over sixty feet tall, 134 columns in all.
The most famous temple is that
of Amun. Amun was the god of all the farms and buildings and
their workers of Thebes. Karnak and the Temple of Amun, in particular,
were the hotbed of religion and practical science as well as
ambition and intrigue.
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Luxor
The temple at Luxor was dedicated to the god Amun, who eventually
became the official state god of Egypt. Egyptian temples were
usually the home of a second god and goddess associated with
the principal god, thus a triad. The triad could be thought of
as a holy family, usually the god, his wife, and a son. At Luxor,
Amun's wife, Mut, was hieroglyphically depicted as a vulturess
or as a human with a vulture head. Their son, Khonsu, was a god
associated with the moon.
Originally the temples at Karnak
and Luxor were connected with a two-mile avenue of sphinxes.
Today this two-mile land parcel is slowly being purchased by
the Egyptian government in efforts to restore the impressive
avenue.
The first pylon of Ramesses
II was designed to impress. In its day it would have been whitewashed
and painted in bright colors. As the public would enter, they
would be surrounded in hieroglyphs with accounts of the pharaoh's
triumphant battles.
Luxor is home of the famous
obelisk.
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Abu
Simbel
Abu Simbel is one of the most
beautiful and certainly the most unusual and majestic temples
in Egypt. It is considered a Nubian temple, built in the heart
of Nubian territory, near the present day border of Sudan. The
temple was dedicated to the triad Amon-Ra, Harmakes, and Ptah
and was built by and to glorify Ramesses II. Most likely it was
built to impress the Nubians, ward off potential enemies, or
show the power of Ramesses II, the great builder.
The facade, 38 meters long and
31 meters high was carved into the mountain. Four colossal seated
statues of Ramesses II replace the supporting column of the facade,
and other statues are sculptured between the legs of each colossus.
They represent various members of the royal family including
Nefertari, wife of Ramesses II. On the bases and side of the
chairs Negro and Asiatic prisoners are shown.
Abu Simbel, with the help of
the United States and UNESCO, was moved onto higher ground when
the Aswan Dam was built. Amazingly, they were able to cut the
facade in pieces from the mountain and reconstruct onto a man-made
mountain and have placement within 1/4 of an inch.
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Philae
Temple
The temple of Philae is one
of the three best preserved Ptolemaic temples, the others being
Edfu and Dendera. Philae was the largest island at the south
end of the First Cataract. This temple was dedicated to Isis,
the wife of Osiris. Legend says that with the force of incredible
love, Isis was able to reconstruct Osiris's scattered limbs and
bring him back to life.
The temple of Philae displays
Roman influence and Christian graffiti. In fact, Christians,
not believing in more than one god, disfigured many of the hieroglyphs
on the temple walls, pylons, and columns. Special note - Philae
was moved to higher ground when the Aswan Dam was built.
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Edfu
The temple at Edfu owes its
fame to the fact that it is the best preserved temple in all
of Egypt and is the second largest temple, next to Karnak. Edfu
was dedicated to the god Horace, the falcon. It was exceptionally
well preserved because it was covered with sand up to the capitals
(tops of columns) for a very long time. Not until 1860 was the
sand removed.
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Kom
Ombo
Kom Ombo is unique in that it
has an unusual ground plan unifying two adjacent temples, one
dedicated to the crocodile-headed Sobek, god of fertility and
creator of the world, and the falcon-headed Horace, the solar
war god. An imaginary line divides the temples, each with its
own entrance, halls, and chapels. In one chapel, the walls depict
a series of surgical instruments including scalpels, forceps,
pincers, etc. confirming a high degree of medical knowledge.
Currently in one chapel, visitors can view various crocodile
sarcophagi and mummies excavated from a neighboring necropolis
(city of the dead).
Kom Ombo was of the Ptolemaic
period, 300-80 B.C., ending with the famous Cleopatra who is
mentioned in some of the hieroglyphics.
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Hatshepsut
Hatshepsut was the first queen
of Egypt to refer to herself unconditionally as a pharaoh. She
wore the kingly false beard and garments and ruled remarkably
for twenty-two years. Queen Hatshepsut was the daughter of King
Thutmose I and became the wife of Thutmose II, her half-brother.
He died young and Hatshepsut displayed great influence over his
successor. Thutmose III succeeded to the throne while still a
boy, hence, Egypt was ruled by Hatshepsut until Thutmose retrieved
his birthright.
The mortuary temple of Hatshepsut
was built by the Great Steward of Amun, Sennemut, a commoner
who became the queen's trusted advisor and possible lover. It
was a radical change from other 18th dynasty structures. The
ramp lies directly opposite the main entrance to the temple of
Amun at Karnak and has three terraces. This mortuary temple has
longed been admired for its beauty nestled at the foot of the
great white cliffs. Unfortunately, much of the relief work depicting
various events which Hatshepsut deemed worthy of being recorded
was destroyed by Thutmose III, especially any mention of Hatshepsut
herself. Wherever possible the Queen's face was scratched off
and her cartouches were changed to his. It's not certain what
happened to Hatshepsut; she simply disappeared. Was she murdered
by Thutmose III? Or did she simply leave of her own accord with
her lover?
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