Temple of Seti, Temple of Merenptah, Rammesseum


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Egypt Travel Diary 2007- Joan's and Ken's Egypt Revealed Tour

Itinerary | Preparation | Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 | Day 6 | Day 7 | Day 8 | Day 9 | Day 10 | Day 11 | Day 12 | Day 13 | Day 14 | Day 15 | Day 16 | Day 17 | Day 18 | Day 19 | Day 20 | Day 21

Egypt 2007 Diary - Temple of Seti, Temple of Merenptah, Rammesseum

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Day 14 - Luxor :Temple of Seti, Temple of Merenptah, Rammesseum

Today, we decided not to go back to Hatsheput's temple, as we covered it fairly well on the boat tour, also the Tomb of Pabhasa seemed to be closed. So we started with the Ramesseum and then Merenpetah.

Ken and bust of Ramesses IIThe Ramesseum has been upgraded and futher restored a great deal since we were here last. The entrance point has changed to orient you on the axis of the remains of the pylon and the storage magazines on the south and the side temples on the north has been uncovered. Things I didn't remember were that the famous Osiride statues of Ramesses are on both sides of the entrance court. You always just see the pictures of the western row, but they are on the eastern side of that courtyard. All have the heads missing. You just have to wonder where the heads are now, were they destroyed in a fit of religious destruction, or are they tucked away in museums and private collections around the world. It would be interesting to take a monument that was exposed to the adventurers of the 1800's and trace it's component parts to all their destinations around the world.

Ramesseum

Belzoni famously looted the Ramesseum of a large statue, or he would say discovered and recovered in the name of his sponsors. But has that act caused more bad than good. It is undeniable that the objects of art that came out of Egypt after Napolean's Expedition lit an unquenchable fire of intellectual curiosity throughout the rest of the world, and the influences of the great civilization of Egypt became of great interest. It is because of the "looting" that the science of Egyptology was born and it is because of Egyptology and the fascination with the greatness of Egypt's past that the Tourism business was born. Tourism, undeniably is the greatest industry in Egypt, and the only thing that will keep it from sustaining the current Egyptian population and creating a rising standard of living, is if that population grows in numbers far faster than the tourism business can expand to support those numbers of people.

Joan next to shoulder of the fallen statue of Ramesses II

As you walk through the Ramesseum, the birds that live on the agricultual land twitter in the trees, and that is still the same 20 years later. The site is cleaner and the columns inside the internal hall retain more color than I remember. They really are still very alive. There weren't many tourists, and thus the essential atmosphere of the place is probably much the same as when it was a complete functioning mortuary temple. It was completed before the death of Ramesses II and must have been the sight of great mourning and dismay when he died and the building became fully used in its primary function. Ramesses II ruled for 67 years, and came to the throne as an adult. Many of his subjects were born and died while he still reigned and those that lived to see his death amid the thousands of monuments and statues that he had erected must truely have wept is disbelief that he, the great god King, had died.

Stele at Merenptah templeNext we visited the mortuary temple of Merenptah, who was his son, and who succeded him on the throne of Egypt. There is really not much there, but the building outlines and a small museum that displays some of the objects that were recovered with its excavation. There is a very nice stele. Of equal interest to the Temple of Merenptah is the storage magazine for the on-going excavation of the Temple of Amenhotep III, best know for the remaining entry statues, the Colossi of Memnon. The magazine can be opened by the guards for a little baksheesh and you can photograph the objects that have been recovered. When we drove past a few days earlier they were excavating a giant crocodile statue, or at least that's what it looked like to Ken.

Lush greenery next to Merenptah temple

When we were leaving Merenptah we were approached by a little girl with a box of scarves and objects to sell. Her mother was hovering in the background, and I found out later she was a neighbor of the sister of our driver. Anyway, the women here dont't all wear black headscarves. Many match their head scarves to the color of their clothes, and the scarves have sequined patterns on them. I bought a pink one she had for EP20 or EP25. Later I asked the driver if she would like to pick out a selection and I would buy some more. I ended up buying four more the next day, a red, a midnight blue, an orange varigated and a turquoise. They were well received as gifts when I got them home.

The driver took us to the shop of his uncle, solely for tea. His uncle had been a resident of Gurna all his life and now, with the clearance of the village, it looked like he would soon have to leave. They cut off the water to Gurna at least a year ago if not longer, so he and his wife live in the Alabaster shop and his relatives bring in supplies. His English was excellent and he showed us around his shop and talked about Gurna. He and the other Gurnaes (I think that is how it is done in the plural) believe that they are the descendants of the tomb builders who settled in the village after their government quit supporting the tomb makers village. If so, they have been there for a couple of thousand years. Well, you know, the place has been continuously occupied since pharonic times, so they could be right. But they are having to leave now, sacrifices to the industry of Egyptology, which ironically they started by removing objects from the nearby tombs and selling them.

We didn't purchase anything but left a bit of baksheesh and went on to see the Temple of Seti.

Ceiling with cartouches of Seti I.

I must be getting temple fatigue, because the Temple of Seti I had beautiful reliefs and even an Osirian similar to the one in Abydos, but I just was not that excited. Perhaps we should have started with this one. Anyway, we came, we saw, we photographed and we drove back for lunch and then to the hotel.

Joan recaps the day at the Iberotel

Egypt Travel Diary 2007- Joan's and Ken's Egypt Revealed Tour

Itinerary | Preparation | Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 | Day 6 | Day 7 | Day 8 | Day 9 | Day 10 | Day 11 | Day 12 | Day 13 | Day 14 | Day 15 | Day 16 | Day 17 | Day 18 | Day 19 | Day 20 | Day 21


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