Notes on the Geography of Egypt: RamesseumRamesseum is a modern name, assigned by Jean-François Champollion to the memorial temple of Rameses II. When built, the temple was called the Temple of Millions of Years of User-Ma'at-Ra United with Thebes in the Estates of Amen West of Thebes. Make default image size larger ![]() The first pylon--its entrance blocked--is made of sandstone instead of the usual mud brick. Internal staircases at either end lead to the top. ![]() A view from left to right of the second pylon, the second court, the hypostyle hall, and the sanctuary. ![]() Osirid columns. ![]() Toppled at the second pylon: this is the colossal statue of Rameses II that inspired Shelley's "Ozymandias." ![]() The figure apparently stood for well over a thousand years: Diodorus Siculus in the First Century A.D. claims to have seen it intact. ![]() "Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair." The statue, showing the deified Rameses, was originally 57 feet high. ![]() Colonnade of second court. ![]() Columns in the hypostyle hall. ![]() The walls of the temple are decorated with both secular and spiritual images. ![]() Soldiers use ladders to attack the Hittite fort at Dapur, a location not precisely identified but likely in modern Syria, Lebanon, or Israel. ![]() Here, on the back side of the second pylon, Rameses II devastates the Hittite Army. Traces of blue indicate the Orontes River, where the battle took place. ![]() Egyptian soldiers watch the slaughter. ![]() Meanwhile, Rameses II kneels before the Theban triad, Amun-Ra, Mut, and Khonsu. ![]() He sits before a Persea tree, while Amun-Ra writes the king's name on its leaves. The tree (Mimusops schimperi) was associated with the rising sun. ![]() Amen-Ra and Mut at the coronation of Rameses. ![]() On the left, the king is escorted by Atum and Montu; on the right he kneels before them; below, the king's sons. ![]() A closer view of the escort party. On the right, the ibis-headed Thoth, scribe of the gods, pen in hand. ![]() Priests carry the sacred barque. |
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