Ramesseum - Ramesseum

The Ramesseum (Arabic:معبد الرامسيوم‎, Maʿbad ar-Rāmisiyūm) is an archaeological site on the Nile west side of Luxor at the edge of the fruit land. Here is the so-called. Millions of years Ramses ’II. This temple complex served both the death cult of the late king and the worship of the god Amun.

background

Determination of the temple

The Egyptian king Ramses ii (1303 - 1213 BC) had several places in Egypt such as in Abydos, Thebes, Abu Simbel, Memphis and build Heliopolis mortuary temple to ensure his continued existence in the afterlife after death. The local Ramesseum is probably his most important mortuary temple and is located in the vicinity of his grave Valley of the Kings. The intention to secure the afterlife also comes from the ancient Egyptian name of the temple Ḥwt nt ḥḥ m rnpwt ẖnmt W3st, "The house of millions of years, united in Thebes", expresses itself. It was designed so that the temple axis on Luxor temple is aligned.

In addition to the temple house, the temple complex includes a double temple Seti ’I in the north of the temple house, the palace of Ramses’ II. For the fictional visit by the king and numerous magazine buildings. The entrance pylon and the two courtyards are no longer separate, but form a unit with the temple house.

The cult of the revered King Ramses II and the imperial god Amun was carried out by the priests who lived here until the end of the 20th dynasty. The Ramesseum later served as a residential area, as did other mortuary temples. Some priests also had their tombs set up here.

History since Greco-Roman times

Knowledge of its purpose as a mortuary temple was completely lost in Greco-Roman times. The temple was now believed to be the tomb of Ramses ’II and was called the“ tomb of Osymandias ”. This Greek name (Οσυμανδυας, also Ozymandias, Osymandyas) is the Greek version of the throne name Ramses ’II, User-maat-Re.

Due to its size, its convenient location and the fact that it can be seen from afar, the temple complex has been visited by all travelers who have gone to the west bank of Thebes. The Greek historian Diodorus reported in detail about this temple. The following extract describes the first courtyard directly behind the pylon:^[1]

47. “From the first graves (that's what they say) in which the concubines [concubines] of Zeus are supposed to be buried, the tomb of a king, named Osymandyas, is 10 stages away. At the entrance there is a tower-pillar door [pylon] made of colored stones, 200 feet long and 45 cubits high. From there one comes into a stone square porticoed hall, each side 400 feet long. Instead of pillars, it is supported by figures of living beings, which are 16 cubits high, hewn from one stone and formed in an ancient manner. The whole ceiling is made of one stone for a width of twelve feet, and is seeded with stars on a blue ground. This hall is followed by another entrance, and a forecourt, which in other respects is the same as the previous one, but is distinguished by various images dug into it. Next to the entrance are three statues, made of stones from Syene [Aswan], carved entirely from one piece. One of them, the seated one, is the largest of all the statues in Egypt; the base alone measures over 7 cubits. The other two, smaller than the previous one, kneel, one on the right, the other on the left, the daughter and the mother. This work is remarkable not only because of its size, but also made with admirable art and of an excellent type of stone; because with its enormous size, you absolutely do not notice any cracks or stains. It has the inscription: “I am Osymandyas, the king of kings. But if someone wants to know how tall I am and where I am, they will win over one of my works. "..."

The English traveler was one of the first European travelers to visit and describe this temple Richard Pococke (1704–1765)^[2] and the Danish naval officer and explorer Frederic Louis North (1708–1742)^[3]. Pococke also submitted a drawing of the colossal statue of Ramses ’II, which is now in the British Museum in London is located.

Belzoni's transport of the colossal statue of Ramses ’II to London and the literary reception

The Italian adventurer traveled at the beginning of the 19th century Giovanni Battista Belzoni three times through Egypt to “get” antiquities for European museums. His first voyage began on June 30, 1816. On July 22, 1816, he arrived in Luxor. He described his intention very clearly:

“My first thought was about the colossal bust that I had planned to remove. Both the torso and the throne were close to the head; the face was turned skyward and seemed to be smiling at me, as if looking forward to being brought to England. Not the enormous size, but the beauty of the head exceeded all my expectations. It occurred to me that Norden's description must have been about the same statue - it had been lying face down in the sand at the time and is therefore in such good condition. ... It [the bust] was almost parallel to the main entrance of the temple, and since there is another gigantic head nearby, I suppose they stood on the sides of the entrance, similar to what you can see in Luxor or Karnak . "^[4]

On July 24, 1816 he asked the Kaschif (Governor) of Armant for 80 workers to remove the bust of Ramses ’II, with whom he took the bust from the Ramesseum to the bank of the Nile between July 27 and August 12. With 130 workers, the collected artifacts were loaded so artistically from November 15 that the ships did not capsize. The ships reached Cairo on December 15th. From January 3 to 14, 1817, the onward transport from Cairo to Alexandria above Rosetta. In the same year the artifacts came to London and became the property of the British Museum. The granite bust of the youthful Ramses ’II still counts today The Younger Memnon (BM No. 576 / EA 19) means one of the showpieces of the museum.

The circumstances of the find and the significance of the bust of Ramses ’II prompted the British writer Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792–1822), as part of a writing competition in December 1817 that So nice (Ring poem) to write "Ozymandias", which was published on January 11, 1818 in the London weekly newspaper The Examiner first published. The sonnet is not one of Shelley's masterpieces, but that hardly harms his popularity.

"A wanderer came from an old country,
And said: “A huge rubble of stone
Standing in the desert, leg to leg, torso-free,
The head next to it, half covered by the sand.

Defiance of trains teaches us: well understood
The sculptor, that vain mockery
To read into dead material
Marked by his honorable hand.

And on the pedestal is the writing: 'My name
Is Osymandias, King of all kings: -
See my works, Mighties, and shake! ‘

Nothing more remained. A picture of sombre grief
Stretches around the rubble endlessly, bare, monotonous
The desert itself that buries the colossus. " (German translation after Adolf Strodtmann)

The poem thus illustrates the transience of earthly works.

Recent research history

1896–1898 the first scientific investigations were carried out James Edward Quibell (1867–1935) took place, who examined the temple, foundation pits and the adobe magazines and unearthed numerous small finds. This also included the Ramesseums papyri with medical and literary texts, among them the Tale of Sinuhefound in a Middle Kingdom grave.

The documentation of the temple complex was only made in the 1970s by the Center de Documentation et d'Études sur l'Ancienne Égypte.

getting there

About 5 kilometers from the ferry dock on the west bank, about 500 m west of the Colossi of Memnon, there is a ticket booth where you also have to buy tickets for the Ramesseum. After buying the ticket you drive from the 25.7229532.6050151 crossing(25 ° 43 '23 "N.32 ° 36 '18 "E) south of Qurnat Murrai continue on the asphalt road in a north-easterly direction and after about 1100 meters you reach the Ramesseum, which is located on the south side of the road. A taxi is available for the journey Gazīrat el-Baʿīrāt or Gazīrat er-Ramla at. From here, there are also microbuses that can be left in the area of ​​the ticket booth.

A not uninteresting journey results for pedestrians from Deir el-Madina out. Go clockwise around the hill that separates Deir el-Madīna and Qurnat Murrai. From the Hathor Temple in Deir el-Madīna it is almost 900 meters to the Ramesseum.

Tourist Attractions

Ramesseum

The archaeological site is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The admission price is LE 80 and LE 40 for students (as of 11/2019).

More mortuary temples

In the immediate vicinity of the Ramesseum are the mortuary temples of other Egyptian kings, but they are nowhere near as well preserved as the Ramesseum.

The is to the east of the Ramesseum, about halfway to the restaurant 25.72877932.6113451 Mortuary temple of Amenhoteps II.(25 ° 43 '44 "N.32 ° 36 ′ 41 ″ E) and northwest of it the so-called. 25.72907432.6107442 Chapel of the White Queen(25 ° 43 ′ 45 ″ N.32 ° 36 '39 "E.). About 200 meters northeast across the street is the 25.73023832.6130613 Mortuary temple Thutmose ’III.(25 ° 43 '49 "N.32 ° 36 '47 "E.).

About 50 meters west of the Ramesseum is the 25.72705832.6087054 Mortuary temple Thutmose ’IV.(25 ° 43 '38 "N.32 ° 36 ′ 31 ″ E). The is located between the two temples 25.72724732.6094465 Temple of Wadjmes(25 ° 43 '38 "N.32 ° 36 '34 "E.), also Wadjmosi, son of Thutmose ’I. Between the mortuary temple Thutmose’ IV. and the Mortuary temple of Merenptah is still the 25.72619832.6074396 Death temple of Tausret(25 ° 43 '34 "N.32 ° 36 '27 "E.).

kitchen

There is a small restaurant in the area of Sheikh ʿAbd el-Qurna approx. 100 meters east of the Ramesseum, more in Gazīrat el-Baʿīrāt and Gazīrat er-Ramla as in Luxor.

accommodation

The closest hotels can be found in the area of Sheikh ʿAbd el-Qurna. There is also accommodation in Gazīrat el-Baʿīrāt and Gazīrat er-Ramla, Ṭōd el-Baʿīrāt, Luxor as Karnak.

trips

The visit of Madīnat Hābū can be combined with a visit to other mortuary temples and the burial of officials, e.g. in Sheikh ʿAbd el-Qurna connect.

literature

• Generally
  • Stadelmann, Rainer: Mortuary temple and millennium in Thebes. In:Communications from the German Archaeological Institute, Cairo Department (MDAIK), ISSN0342-1279, Vol.35 (1979), Pp. 301-321.
  • Ullmann, Martina: King for Eternity - the Houses of Millions of Years: An Inquiry into the King's Cult and Temple Typology in Egypt. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 2002, Egypt and Old Testament; 51, ISBN 978-3-447-04521-6 .
  • Schröder, Stefanie: Millions of years: for the conception of the space of eternity in constellative kingship in language, architecture and theology. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 2010, ISBN 978-3-447-06187-2 .

• Ramesseum
  • Quibell, J [ames] E [dward]: The Ramesseum. London: Quaritch, 1898, Egyptian Research Account. 1896; [1].
  • Helck, Wolfgang: The ritual representations of the Ramesseum. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 1972, Egyptological treatises; 25th, ISBN 978-3-447-01439-7 .
  • Goyon, Jean-Claude; Ashiri, Hasan el- (Ed.): Le Ramesseum; Vol.Le Caire. Center de Documentation et d'Études sur l'Ancienne Égypte, 1973, Collection scientifique. 12 volumes.
  • Stadelmann, Rainer: Ramesseum. In:Helck, Wolfgang; Westendorf, Wolfhart (Ed.): Lexicon of Egyptology; Vol. 5: Building a pyramid - stone vessels. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 1984, ISBN 978-3-447-02489-1 , Col. 91-98.

• Ozymandias, sonnet by Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792–1822)
  • Shelley, Percy Bysshe: Rosalind and Helen, a modern eclogue, with other poems. London: C. and J. Ollier, 1819. The sonnet was published on January 11, 1818 in the London weekly newspaper The Examiner first published. See the text in the English Wikisource.
  • Shelley, Percy Bysshe; Strodtmann, Adolf (transl.): Percy Bysshe Shelley's selected seals; Part 2. Hildburghausen: Publication of the Bibliograph. Inst., 1866, P. 143. See Text of the translation on Wikisource.

Individual evidence