Medinet Hebu

Location of Medinet Hebu:

The  west  bank  at  Luxor  is  one  of  the  most important  archaeological  sites  in the  world. Thebes,  located  opposite  of  today’s  city  of Luxor,  was  the  capital of  Egypt  during  the period of the Middle and New Kingdoms. With the  temples and  palaces  at  Karnak  and  Luxor, and the necropolises of the Valley of the Kings and  the  Valley  of  the  Queens,  Thebes  is  testimony to Egyptian civilization at its height.

Temple of Medinet Hebu:

Medinet Hebu was both a temple and a complex of temples dating from the New Kingdom. The  area  was  one  of  the  earliest  places  within the  Theban  region to  be  associated  with  the worship of Amun. Hatshepsut and Tutmosis III built a small temple to Amun on the site of an the  site  of  an  earlier  structure.  Next  to their temple, Ramesses III built his mortuary temple, Medinet  Hebu’s  most conspicuous  standing monument.  Medinet  Hebu  was  erected  and enclosed with  massive  mud  brick-built  walls and became the focus of the administrative and economic life of the whole of Thebes. The  area  included  storehouses, workshops, administrative offices, and residences of priests and  officials.  The site  was  inhabited  well  into the Middle Ages (9 th  century A.D.). The original temple  underwent  many  alterations  and enlargements  in  the  following  1500 years. These considerably extended its plan by adding a columned hall, two pylons, and a court at the front.








Mortuary Temple of Ramesses III - sky view


The temple at Medinet Hebu of Ramesses III at Qurna



 Ramessid columns in the peristyle court



Ceiling decoration in the peristyle hall


Zone of decolourisation in court of mortuary temple of Ramesses III


The Mortuary Temple of Ramesses III


The  mortuary  temple  used  to  be  connected with the Nile by a canal, and a landing quay was built outside the enclosure wall. The entrance to the  temple enclosure  was  through  one  of  two fortified  gates,  of  which  only  the  eastern so-called "Pavilion" now remains. South of the last court  stood  the  brick-built palace,  now  badly damaged. Two building phases of the structure can  be recognized.  The  interior  of  the  palace was originally decorated with exquisite faience tiles.  The  "window  of  appearances"  connected the palace with the temple.


The Coptic Fresco of Saint Menas at Medinet Hebu:
Saint Menas has received his due share of attention  in religious literature, both in connection with  incidents  of  his  life  and  the  miracles which  he  performed, and  thus  it  is  surprising  to  find that none of the scenes at Medinet Hebu seem to portray incidents common to the literary record. The fact that such a concordance could not be established in a preliminary analysis has  necessitated  a detailed  study  of  the  documentary  material  concerning  the saint. Earlier studies of Menas have settled  neither the problem of where the saint was born and where he lived, nor the problems regarding the relations between his appearance on objects of art and the material of the literary legends.  The results of an investigation of these questions must  be given before the paintings can be considered in detail.

Ricostruzione dell’affresco di Medinet Hebu

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