We head out at 7:30 for Karnak Temple. Everyone looks much more rested, after a relaxing afternoon and evening, and who wouldn’t after getting up at 2:45am yesterday?
On the bus there was a question posed about military service, which is compulsory for men, at least one year for the educated, three years for those who are uneducated. Women do national service, which is mandatory if a person wishes to work in the government, otherwise it is not required.
Luxor comes from Al Aksar, meaning “palaces” as any stone building to early Arabs was a palace (700AD). It was called Epitrecit, the southern shrine around unification, also the southern capital. It becomes the overall capital in the New Kingdom, called was, which means the scepter in the hand of the pharaoh, meaning authority. It keeps that name until the Greeks come and they name it Thebes, the hundred-gated city, because of all the temples. This city was always critical for unification, and the kings who unified the country were always from Luxor. In the New Kingdom, they decided to invade neighbors to make a more secure border, and they kept enlarging and invading, and eventually Luxor was the capital of Egypt and 14 countries were united in the empire from Sudan to Libya to Turkey to Crete/Malta/Cyprus. Thus Luxor was the capital of a large, rich empire, and Hassan says Luxor holds 1/3 of all the monuments in the world. Temples in the East Bank were for everyday life, while those in the West were royal funeral temples, and as the largest capital, had the most temples. Karnak temple is the largest. Nothing remains of the city and towns and even royal palaces, because everything was built mud brick, for everyday life, while for the afterlife, tombs and temples and shrines and obelisks were made of stone.
Karnak temple (named for the local village) was the main temple of the whole empire , and the god Amun was worshipped here. Amun who had been a minor god, becomes the main god. Amun-Ra was the god combined from Amun and Ra, and has the two large feathers in his headdress (in English we say Amun-Re). As we approach Karnak, we drive along the Corniche du Nile, the main street of Luxor, along which are beautiful old hotels, including the one we will stay at tomorrow, the Steigenberger. We go by the Winter Palace Hotel, which was indeed the last palace of the royal family. Nearby is the temple of Luxor, much smaller than Karnak. Karnak and Luxor were attached by an avenue of sphinxes.
Karnak temple was the main temple of Amun-Ra, started before 3,000BC as a small temple, then a small stone temple in the Old Kingdom, which was later demolished and rebuilt in the Middle Kingdom, which was then demolished and the huge temple we will see today was built in the New Kingdom over time. Today parts of apartment blocks are being demolished to restore the 2-mile Avenue of the Sphinxes to make this an open air museum, to make it look like it did in ancient times. Various kings added to the stone temple with new sections and enclosure and walls. The word Amun became the word Amen, used in various religions, Amen means so be it, in Christianity, Judaism, Islam (Ameen). In ancient Egypt, after a long prayer, people would say the name of the god of the temple instead of repeating the whole prayer, thus prayer and Amun, prayer and Amun.
Inside the spacious, air-conditioned visitor center is a huge detailed model of the Karnak temples, plural. There are three temples, one for each of triad, one for Amun-Ra, one for Nut his wife, and one for Khons, son of Amun-Ra and the god of the moon. The temple occupies 61 acres and is the largest on earth. Hassan jokes that we will see only 59 acres. The large enclosure was made of mud brick as it was frequently enlarged, but the gates were made of stone. In 1,600BC was the original small temple from which kings added. The main hypostyle hall is quite grand, which has something like a central nave which allowed light into the two side halls.
We walk out onto the plaza, which has been cleared of the village which surrounded the temple. Some tree roots were found from 1,500 BC, so the new trees were painted in the same spot. From here we can see across the Nile to the Temple of Hatshepsut, a prime location, which also had a view of the obelisks of Hatshepsut here. We walk along the wide place together to the entrance. There is a mausoleum of two 10th century sheiks, similar to saints. Nearby was the quai from the Nile, which is how people approached the area, including two huge ramps used for moving stone blocks. We come to the avenue of the rams, with the body of the lion and the head of the ram, Amun-Ra, with the king as the small statue under the god’s protection, this was built in 1,300 BC by Rameses.
We enter the Grand Forecourt, with two lines of Amun-Ra statues continuing the avenue to the entry. Habu, who defeated the sea peoples in 20th dynasty, built a whole temple outside the main gate to the right. In the 24th dynasty, the built two new colonnades to the side, and they removed the ram-headed gods to the side. In 25th dynasty were ruling the Libyans kings, a new colonnade was built in the middle with 10 huge columns with a roof. One large column is fully restored, with the closed lotus blossom capital. Later, Alexander conquers Egypt, and this interrupted the two large entries which are unfinished. Next to the tower is the original mud brick ramp used the build the towers, discovered about 1880. Before this discovery, it was thought that the Herodotus approach of pulleys was how things were built. This ramp was never removed because the towers were never finished. We come to the statue of Rameses II in the “mummy” pose with feet together, the curly beard, and arms crossed over his chest, which shows him like god Osiris, after death as a god. Across the court is the statue of Rameses alive, with the left leg forward and arms at the side, and the straight beard. Most people stand with the left leg a bit forward, this is the most comfortable position, due to blood flow. We also tend to start walking with the left leg, just like the arm, always left-right-left-right, thus it also became a sign of leadership. Early archaeologists thought women were of lower status because his wife was tiny below him, but this was actually related to the king becoming a god, but his wife does not become a goddess, so she cannot be represented full size, but only smaller as a human. He could put a large statue of her outside the temple but not full size in the Temple. The small statue of her is like having something he could look down to see as he loved her, just as we carry photographs. In this statue, she is carrying a flower.
We walk through the gate, and a Hassan poses a question, about whether the figures are ancient Egyptian or Greco-Roman, and we can tell by the more rounded body shape that they are Greco-Roman. These wall sections were added to narrow the gate and add a place for Ptolomy to have his figures. Next we go to the enormous hypostyle hall, which has 134 columns, compared to the 18 we saw the other day. Many films have been made here. It is breathtaking in size and scope, and imagining what it looked like when it was all painted, it must have been thrilling to see. The central set of columns have the open papyrus, all the others have the papyrus bud for capitals. The slight bulge at the base of the column is to make it look like the base of the flower, rather than structural. The main columns are 25 meters, the side columns are 24 meters, called basilica style, which Europeans thought they invented but all ancient hypostyle are like this. This is the third greatest achievement in ancient Egyptian building history, the first is the Great pyramid of Khufu, the second is Abu Simbel, and this is the third. Rameses did #2 and #3, he was the greatest builder, with temples and monuments everywhere. The hypostyle hall is about 17,000 square feet. The diameter of the column is decided by the size of the roof slab span above, and the spacing is decided by this as well, in both directions. How did they build this? They figured out the area, drew on the ground where the columns would go, then dug down for the foundation, built the bases and then leveled them all at the ground, then they started building the columns. It was fairly easy to build up to about 6 feet, all the columns, out of square stones, then they used the ramp to build another layer of two meters, then more ramping, then more two meters of stones, etc. then they ramped up one last time and installed the slabs. They began to remove the ramps, and three groups of artisans worked. The first polished stone and shape capitals of columns, and the whole column was originally the diameter of the columns. Then the second group came with hammer and chisel and inscribed the hieroglyphs and figures, and third group, the painters came and did the decoration. Each painter handled one color, which was water-based and colored by ground stones, bound with egg white, beeswax, and table salt; all had limestone as the white base. What keeps these colors visible is that the were painted at a certain temperature. The master would first go through and put a dot of color for the paint, like painting by numbers now. Each layer was done to the step of painting, then the ramp was removed, then the three teams did their work, then ramp removed, etc. This whole hypostyle hall took some time, it is estimated at 8-10 years, since this was done by Rameses II, who was impatient and powerful. Hassan says he is the only pharaoh who would have wanted next day delivery. Painted areas of temples are amazing when there is anything preserved, because they were out in the open, unlike tombs which were sealed up. The name of Rameses was inscribed multiple times on each column, cut very deeply. Rameses had usurped prior kings’ materials and buildings by chopping off the old name and adding his own, so he expected the same after his death, thus his name is all over, and if the cartouche was cut deeply someone else could not carve his name in the same spot. So throughout, his cartouche and name are more deeply carved than the rest of the decoration.
Thuthmosis I built the next temple, he is the father of Hatshepsut. He placed two obelisks here. Hatshepsut added her own obelisk. She disappeared, and Thuthmosis III extended the temple all the way to the far end. Then Horemheb added his extension to the side, as is the case of the other kings of the 18th dynasty, and 10 new towers. Where we now see a crane, Akhenaten enclosed this temple and built a temple to Aten. Akhenaten moves the capital to Amarna, then he dies, Tutankhamun came back, people still disliked the new religion and Akhenaten, and the late general- kings took the stones that Akhenaten was using and repurposed them for new towers. They could tell that the blocks were now in their original places. Then comes Seti I, farther of a Rameses II, who extended the temple further.
We come to the obelisk, which is one huge piece of red granite, always. For smaller obelisks they could use limestone, but this one came from of Aswan 200 kilometers away. The purpose of the obelisk was for the god Ra. Each obelisk is topped by a pyramid. There are few obelisks in the Old Kingdom because the pyramids. By the Middle Kingdom they were no longer building pyramids, so there were obelisks everywhere instead to commemorate Ra. Hatshepsut “heard” the voice of her father Ra, telling her to erect two obelisks made of gold, but she could not find enough gold. She instead made two massive red granite obelisks, because golden obelisks could not be faked. Thus is the expression “carved in stone” for truth. The gold off the obelisk was stolen soon after, as gold does not stick to red granite like it does to wood. She also said that the obelisks were finished in 7 months, which was impossible, perhaps it was 7 years, or perhaps she meant just the finishing of decoration and gold. How was this 29 meter tall, 300-ton obelisk erected? We will discuss this later. The upper part is more yellow, because her successor built earthen walls around the lower section with her name then covered it, with only the top part about Ra visible. Hassan jokes that the top has a suntan.
Nearby is the top of the obelisk, showing Amun-Ra leaving his hands on Hatshepsut as king, showing great support for her. This is just near the location of the sacred lake, near the place where the priests lived. The lake was connected directly to the canal by pipes fed with fresh water related to the flood. The large scarab statue nearby is not from here but was brought here in the 19th century. People even of the Christian and Muslim faith found the scarab lucky, and the legend is that you walk around it three times for good luck or healing, or seven times for finding a mate or pregnancy. Lots of people are doing this, and even though it seems silly, we do too.
We have a little time to explore on our own, and we find a side shrine to Hatshepsut where she is being given life in a stream of ankhs from her father Amun-Ra. Her figure has been chopped out by her successor, but the intent of the painting is still clear.
We now head to the Papyrus Institute where we will see papyrus made. Papyrus has lasted 4,500 years so far, we saw ancient papyrus in the Egyptian Museum. When the ancient Egyptian religion died out so did all types of knowledge, medicine, industry, etc. Papyrus had died out along the Nile after all the dams. An archaeologist brought some from Sudan and cultivated it. He started an institute to teach this art again. Most of what is seen in markets is made of banana leaves and sugar cane, not real papyrus. Here we will see new artworks on papyrus, signed by the artist, with copies of scenes from temples and tombs. Hassan also explains how he negotiates discounts with various stores. The manager does a demonstration for us. He shows us the papyrus plant, which is tropical, and now grown by the government. The stem is triangular, like the pyramid, a symbol of eternity, and in the north where it thrives the stem is several inches in diameter. The closed flower has a bulge, the open one is a nice spread almost triangle in shape. The stem is cut based on the length of the paper desired. The papyrus is peeled, and the peels used for baskets and sandals. The inner part is sliced, and it has about 10% sugar vs. 50%+ for sugar cane. The manager rolls it with a rolling pin to remove the water and it becomes flexible. It is left in water for a week so the sugar can seep out, and this sugar water is used as glue. The papyrus is now a tan color and the strips are laid across each other. He puts it between two pieces of carpet and puts it in a press for one week. It comes out strong yet flexible. Fake papyrus is made of banana leaves with chemical glue which will retain lots of sugar, and it will crack once dry and out of the plastic. Real papyrus is also waterproof and after soaking can be disassembled and reused. It accepts all inks and color, and can even go through a laser printer for invitations. The manager describes some key scenes, the judgement of a king with Maat and the king confessing to the 14 gods above the judgment, and the tree of life, with the four young stage birds look to the east (life), while the bird of old age or wisdom looks to the west.
Luxor has two temples to the triad including Amun-Ra, Karnak and Luxor. Luxor temple was built to celebrate the sacred marriage of Amun-Ra. King Amenhotep III was a son from the second wife, and he married a commoner, not his half sister, so he copied the story of Hatshepsut, and claimed that he is son of the god Amun-Ra from his body, that there was a marriage between Amun-area and his mother. Thus he was accepted on the throne for 30 years. As we approach the temple, the sun is setting and the lights are going up on Luxor temple with a crescent moon above. This was built 1,500 BC, and Rameses connected this with the Avenue of the Sphinx, and usurped the whole of the temple with his name everywhere. There is also a 10th century mosque inside the temple grounds, and there was a church here in part of the temple at one time.
Inside the two towers is Amenhoteps’s colonnade. There are five large statues in front of the towers, until last year there were only three. There is one huge obelisk out front, the other is in France (Muhammad Ali got a French clock tower in exchange). The obelisks were put here by Rameses II. The obelisk leans slightly left, as one of the base part sank into the silt, but this is still secure. The hieroglyphs look very crisp and new, as if they were done yesterday . There are baboons at the base, as the baboon was considered related to the god Ra and sunrise. This temple was used at dawn and at dusk. Twice a year, the triad of gods processed from Karnak to Luxor temple on the avenue.
Almost all temples are aligned on one axis, but because the statues of Rameses were off center, Rameses decided to make the entrance towers slightly askew of the axis. Inside the large courtyard, we see the wall of the 10th century mosque, with the entrance about 20’ over where we now stand. A huge mound covered the temple over time, as early Christians abandoned the old religion, and the temple was buried by trash, built on for houses, stables, mosques, and more. The sacred area though, is always the sacred area, the early temple, then the church nearby the sanctuary, and the mosque, Erie all of the same spot. At the mosque there was a procession for the sheik of the mosque with flags and festivities and a ceremonial boat, similar to what happened in ancient Egypt.
Rameses II constricted 74 beautiful columns here with the papyrus capitals. The later columns from Amenhotep are rather plain, slender and deeply fluted with simple capitals. The huge statues of Rameses are similar to others with the crown of unification. Just past they entrance is a major panel which features the god of the Nile Hapi, depicted twice, tying the body of the king with lotus flowers. The god Hali is depicted with a breast as he represents both the make and female aspects of the river and of life. The nearby statue of Amenhotep and his wife Tiye; her features more Nubian. She was a strong character, and ruled over her husband and her son, Akhenaten. Across from this statues is another of Amun-Ra and his wife Nut; they were equivalents of the king and his wife for the god and goddess. This statue was built by Tutankhamun, so this is one of the few representations of him outside the tomb, also on the walls are scenes of belly dancing, although these have faded over the past 30 years.
We now go into the forecourt with its 14 huge columns, leading to the colonnade and the sanctuary beyond. The far end of the sanctuary was turned into a church by early Christians, as they hated worshipping the Roman emperors and gladly turned to making this Christian. We explore all the way to the very end of the temple, through essentially 10 “rooms,” just where the back of tho temple meets the road. There is so much here to explore and we have barely scratched the surface. We gather back at the Avenue of the Sphinxes to return to the ship and freshen up for dinner.on the way I notice that Luxor has many more stop lights than we saw in Cairo, and lane separator lines. Hassan also noted that Luxor is very clean, which is true.
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