The Temple of Ramesseum
The Ramesseum is one of the distinctive temples of ancient Egypt. Knowing his founder, Ramses II, the most famous builder in ancient Egypt who is credited for many magnificent monuments like the temple of Abu Simble, the Hypostyle Hall in the Karnak Temple, and many other creations. The establishment was in fact the mortuary temple of Ramses II in the West bank of Luxor.
The Temple of the Ramesseum is situated in the West Bank of Luxor in the rout to many interesting monuments like the Valley of the Kings, the Temple of Hatshepsut, and the Colossi of Memnon.
The Ramesseum was established by Ramses II who ruled Egypt in the period from 1279 until 1213 BC as his mortuary temple, like many other kings and queens of ancient Egypt.
Although many sections of the Ramesseum are now in ruins, the temple reflects the greatness of Ramses II. The Ramesseum had large walls surrounding it being 270 meters long and 170 in widths. The Temple was actually designed similar to the smaller temple of Seti I situated next to it.
The first thing tourists see when they visit the temple is a large pylon that is 66 meters in width. Scenes from the famous battle of Kadesh dominate the pylon. A set of stairs situated in the Northern section of the pylon leads to the roof of it. The entrance of the temple has some wonderful wall carvings of Ramses II presenting offerings to the gods including Amun, Horus, Hathour, and Ptah.
The guests afterwards reach the first open courtyard of the Ramesseum where they can admire the scenes of the pylon from inside where many scenes from Kadesh are carved on the walls as well.
In the Northern section of the first courtyard, there were large Osiris columns. However, only the bases of two large statues of Ramses II remained until today. At the end of the first courtyard, there are some stairs that lead the guest to the second courtyard.
The second pylon is smaller than the first with scene from the battle of Kadesh all over its walls. This is besides some scenes from the celebration of the god of Amun in the season of the harvest.
The hypostyle hall of the Ramesseum is similar in its outline and design to that of the Karnak Temple, established by Ramses II as well. The roof of the hall used to stand on 48 cylinder shaped columns divided into six rows.
The most important scene in the hypostyle hall of the Ramesseum can be seen in the Eastern walls of it. This is where Ramses II is running after the god; Mut, and another god represented in the shape of a ram. Ramses II also offers wine to one of the gods and some perfumes to the god Osiris. There is also a large wall carving of Ramses II attacking his enemies with his war wagon and his horses.
The Ramesseum, among many other less visited monuments in the West Bank of Luxor, like the Temple of Ramses III of Madinet Habu, the tombs of the nobles, and workers village, are always worth a visit especially for tourists who travel to Egypt for its wonderful Pharaonic monuments.
