It was built as a mortuary temple for Ramses III, but actually, was not just a temple, but a complex of temples and even a palace of the Pharaoh himself. This area is the earliest, associated with the worship of Amun. It was believed by the Egyptians to be the site where Amun appeared for the first time. Hatshepsut and Tuthmose III built their temple dedicated to Amun on the spot, where according to the inscriptions on the walls, "the primeval hill which first rose out of the receding waters of Chaos." An inscription describes it as the burial place of the four primal pairs of gods.
Primal Gods, according to the Creation Myth, all came into being at the same time. Nun and Naunet represent the seas, Kuk and Kauket represent the infinite darkness, Hu and Hauhet represent empty space, and Amun and Amaunet represent quintessence, or the secret powers of creation. The gods are usually depicted as men with the heads of snakes, the goddesses as women with the heads of frogs. Together they built an island in the middle of the vast emptiness and the egg that was placed upon it. From this egg, the sun god Atum was born, and he began the process of creating the world while the others withdrew...
Fortunately for us, the place is not on the main tourist route, so when we arrived there, it was a nice change from the overcrowded tombs in the Valley.
In the temple’s design there are some elements of the style of Syrian fortress, which could be explained with the pictures depicted on the temple walls: all that of the battles and obviously, victories of Ramses III over his enemies. I must say, the walls were decorated in rather "bloody" fashion in this place. A LOT of pictures of the Pharaoh, sacrificing his captured enemies to the Gods, or accepting offerings in a form of human body’s parts – those from the enemies again...When I sat down to have a rest in a shade of a column in the first, most "bloodthirsty" hall, I found some very "entertaining" picture right in front of my eyes: pharaoh sitting on his throne and in front of him – a pile of…cut off palms…and slightly below – another scene: same pharaoh, same size of pile…only pile of…(oh-oh) cut off penises…hmmmm…quite amusing, I thought and of course it prompt my curiosity into the story behind…sure enough, when some guide accidentally brought his group to this carvings, my ears were there to listen.
Apparently, it reflects a "kindness" and "fairness" of Ramses III! He forbided his army to rob the conquered enemies’s towns. Instead he set up a "payment for a kill" system: the soldier gets paid when he brings a proof that he’d killed an enemy – a palm cut off the dead body. No need to say, that like any system, this one has been designed to be violated…so the pharaoh soon discovered, that his soldiers were "cheating" – giving him two palms from one same dead body…or even worse – they began to cut off palms of the women and kids to get paid more. So the clever pharaoh came up with the idea that didn’t allowed any "workarounds" – instead of palms he would only accept…penises of his dead enemies…hmmm…well, the pictures on the wall presented the process quite graphically…
There were many signs of the temple being not only a place to come to worship, but also a place to live for the Pharaoh. At least from time to time. It was said, that on the top floors of the Entrance Gate House it was a place of pharaoh’s Harem. Around the temple there is a mud brick wall, which allowed taking inside the enclosure the entire population of Thebes, when they seek refuge from the invasions in the later 20th Dynasties times…So you can imagine the temple as really huge – second one after Karnak, they say…
The focus of the main axis of the temple is the sanctuary of Amun. My guide book said – "once finished in electrum with a doorway of gold and the doors themselves of copper inlaid with precious stones." Now all in ruins and not a sign of gems or even copper, of course…
Very nice place, that wasn’t initially on our travel list, but I have no regrets for it being added. Actually, I consider myself lucky to stumble upon it even if by accident.
