Most of what the general public knows about ancient Egypt relates to their dealings with death: mummies, pyramids, King Tut’s death mask, etc. Another element of this death-centered focus are mortuary temples. These were large complexes that were tended to by priests during the Old (2686-2160 BCE) and Middle Kingdom (2055-1650 BCE), built as a place for daily rituals and cultic ceremonies in honor of the gods and the deceased king.
During the earlier dynasties in ancient Egypt, pharaohs and kings built pyramids as royal tombs to be their last resting place on earth. However, what many do not know is that more constructions were being built in the surrounding areas of the pyramids. For example, the great pyramid of Giza has three smaller adjacent pyramids for the King's wifes. There is also a big complex that can be spotted in aerial imagery which is made up like a city, and it includes a mortuary temple. Both the pyramid and the mortuary temple were connected through a long passageway called a causeway, which was built both above and underneath the ground. During the New Kingdom (c. 1539 - 1075 BCE) however, mortuary temples were constructed farther away from the royal tombs due to theft and because the royal burials were now located within the Valley of the Kings.
One of the few mortuary temples that are still in good condition is the Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut, which can be found on the west bank of the Nile opposite Luxor in the cliffs of Deir el-Bahri. Three shrines in particular stand out within this mortuary temple: the Hathor shrine at the south end of the middle terrace; the Anubis shrine at the north end of the middle terrace; and the Amun shrine at the far back of the temple’s main axis, for whom Queen Hatshepsut had dedicated this entire temple for.
Another impressive mortuary temple close to Deir el-Bahri is the Ramesseum, also called ‘the mansion of a million years’. The Ramesseum is the mortuary temple of Ramesses II, who ruled during the New Kingdom. What is interesting about it is that it does not follow the standard rectangular shape of a mortuary temple, but is rather a parallelogram. The reason for this is likely to be able to accommodate a shrine dedicated to his mother Yuya and one to his wife Nefertari inside of it whilst still having the right orientation in relation to the Nile. Inside the complex there are two smaller temples, mudbrick annexes, workshops and stores as well as some storage and administrative buildings.
It is hard to imagine the sheer size and grandeur these temples truly exert and the only way to experience them is by visiting and wandering through their many hallways yourself.
Text: Christoffer Ek. MENAM Archaeology. Copyright 2022.
Image 1: Anna Sunneborn Gudnadottir.
Image 2: Wikimedia Commons, Onceinawhile
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