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| Εστάλη στις 21-8-2003 στις 15:31 |
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KV5, the tomb of Ramesses II's sons in the Valley of the Kings, Thebes
PART II
Lets take a look at the rooms within KV 5. Only a fraction of this tomb has been excavated, but we expect to learn a great deal about Ramesses II and
his times. This tomb will be making news for many years to come. But what we now know of its layout and excavation borders on the
fantastic. For the most part, it is a unique structure of ancient Egypt's distant past.
The back Section of the Tomb
At the entrance to the tomb there is some highly damaged text. Within the north jamb of the doorway is a winged representation of Ma'at kneeling
on a basket. Between her wings is a sn-sign, its base pointing towards a cartouche of Ramesses II. Traces on the south jamb appear that its decoration
mirrored the north jamb. The narrow entrance opens into one small chamber and then another before reaching a 15 square meter, 16 pillared hall. These
are numbered one, two and three.
Chamber 1
Chamber one was a very difficult chamber for the archaeologists to excavate. It had suffered the ravages of twelve great floods over the past 3,000
years, and was packed with concrete like debris. Moreover, there were considerable antiquities within the debris that had to be cataloged, whether
they came from this tomb or elsewhere. The archaeologists studied the chamber during 1988, but did not begin excavation within the chamber until 1989.
It took another ten years, until 1999, to clear out the last of the debris.
Structurally, this chamber is one of the worst damaged by nearby tourist busses.
 A
Shabtis from this tomb
note: Shabtis: A figure in the form of a mummy which served as a dead mans deputy. Shabtis figures were servants in the afterlife who performed
labor for the deceased.
A broken base of a Cannanite amphora was found that had been reused as a paint pot, but had spilled leaving blue paint on the floor of the chamber.
There were also fragments of human bones found in this chamber. Other, mostly fragmentary items discovered in chamber one included:
Blue and bluegreen inscribed faience shabtis - Faience inscribed shabtis - Calcite inscribed shabtis - Calcite uninscribed shabtis - Six calcite
canopic jars, four of which were inscribed - Inscribed red granite sarcophagus or canopic box fragment (probable) - Uninscribed (possibly basalt)
sarcophagus or canopic box fragment (probable) - Wooden hand from an anthropoid sarcophagus - Wooden round drawer pull with dowel - Wooden painted
scepter fragment - Two faience "wiglets" - Glass "wiglet" - Glazed "wiglet" of undetermined material - 74 tubular
faience beads - many potsherds, as elsewhere, including pieces from the Ramesside, New Kingdom, Late period, Roman and Coptic periods.
Chamber 2
Chamber two's excavation began in 1990 and continued until 1998. There was less structural damage from modern traffic within this chamber, though
the flood debris were still extensive.
While little decorations adorn the walls today, in chamber two, plaster fragments have been reassembled enough to reveal scenes showing Ramesses II
presenting his sons to various gods. Another scene once showed Ramesses II standing before a table of offerings and a final scene once displayed a
large canopic chest.
Items found within this room include a faience ring bezel bearing the cartouche of either Tuthmosis III or IV. Items found within this room include:
Wooden uninscribed shabtis - Calcite inscribed shabtis - Faience inscribed shabtis - Six inscribed calcite shabtis - Nine uninscribed calcite shabtis
- Three Faience "wiglets" - Eight glazed "wiglets" of undetermined material - Faience fragment of Ankh amulet - Faience fragment
of goddess amulet - Fragment of two light green faience vessels - Several light green, flat, faience inlay fragments - Many potsherds.
There was a large pit discovered beneath the floor of this room that contained a number of items when excavated. It had probably been completely
sealed with large rock slabs, but only one was left in place. The purpose of the pit is unknown. It stretches from the east to the
west wall along the base of the north wall. Within were found four skeletons. Two of the skeletons seem to have been of robust
younger males, while a third man seems to have been lighter. The fourth man, likewise was of light build, but older. The bodies had originally been
mummified, and wrapped in linen. Other items found in the pit included fragments from an alabaster canopic jar that appears to be inscribed
with the name Mery-Atum, who was Ramesses II's sixteenth son. There was also the leg bone of a cow, which had been mummified and left as
a food offering.
The evidence from this pit suggests that at some point in antiquity, perhaps even before the first flood, grave robbers and probably carried the
bodies from their burial chambers to the front of the tomb. Light was better there, so they could better search the bodies for precious relics. Then,
either the robbers disposed of the mummies in the pit, or the bodies washed back in and fell into the pit.
Queen of the two Lands, Lady of Abu Simbel, Daughter of Isis, High-priestess of Hathor.
MR2 club Greece & MR2 club U.K. - International Corfu Meeting 01/05 - 08/05/2009
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| Εστάλη στις 21-8-2003 στις 15:36 |
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Chamber 3
Chamber three is certainly one of the most interesting rooms within this tomb. It has more pillars, numbering sixteen, and is as large as most any
chamber in the Valley of the Kings (as well as being the largest in this tomb). It has seven doorways that lead to either rooms or whole corridors.
These doors exist at three different levels, because the floor of the tomb was first lowered from its original height, and then built back up again
using limestone slabs. To date, only a small part of the floor of Chamber three has been cleared by excavators.
Of chamber three's sixteen pillars, fourteen were cut from the living rock, while the remaining two were made from hewn blocks (partially). On
either side of the central door of chamber there are mirror scenes depicting life size images of four of Ramesses II's sons, seated in front of a
priest. The priest wears panther skins. Here, two of the faces have survived fairly well, and are beautifully done. Chamber three seems to have been
the center of the complex, but we will know more about this after the decorations are fully analyzed.
Alabaster fragments were found from a box near the first pillar from the entrance to the chamber. It may have had inscriptions from the Book of Gates.
There were two pottery ostraca found in this room with hieratic writing. Other items found include:
Inscribed faience shabtis - uninscribed calcite shabtis - Three inscribed calcite canaopic jars - four uninscribed calcite canopic jars - Two
Possible uninscribed calcite sarcophagus or canopic box - Light bluegreen fragment of glass vessel with dark blue core - Light blue, yellow and brown
fragment of glass vessel - Calcite vessel rim - Possible granite door socket - pieces of gold leaf - A considerable number of pottery fragments (over
12,000 though less than one quarter of room excavated).
Chamber 4
Chamber four is the six pillared hall on the south of the 16 pillared hall. Its doorway is to the right when entering the 16 pillared hall, located
near the front wall. Because floodwaters had greatly slowed by the time they reached chamber four, silt levels were much lower. Only about a quarter
of this chamber has been excavated. Apparently, a side room was begun at the northern end of the eastern wall, but then abandoned.
Very little has been found in this room so far. These items include three small, blue faience fragments.
Chambers 5 & 6
No excavation has taken place in Chambers five and six, because the ceiling is so badly damaged that it will probably have to be entered from above.
This was probably caused from the overhead traffic. This is the worst damaged chamber so far discovered in the tomb, yet when finally excavated,
should prove interesting. It is the third largest chamber in the tomb, after chambers three and four, and may have had pillars. There
are four small niches cut high into each of its four walls, which might suggest this was a burial chamber.
Chamber six is smaller. It has doorways from both chambers three and five, and lied directly beneath chamber 9b.
Queen of the two Lands, Lady of Abu Simbel, Daughter of Isis, High-priestess of Hathor.
MR2 club Greece & MR2 club U.K. - International Corfu Meeting 01/05 - 08/05/2009
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| Εστάλη στις 21-8-2003 στις 15:42 |
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Corridor 7
Corridor seven represents the single vertical leg of this T shaped region of the tomb and is at least 60 meters (200 feet) long. It
leads out of the rear wall of the 16 pillared hall past many small chambers. The corridor has 20 doorways, of which the first two to
either side lead to a suit of rooms, The last two doorways towards the back of the tomb lead to additional corridors, numbered 10 and 11. 16 of the
doorways in corridor 7 lead to what appears to be single chambers. All along the corridor are decorations, though they are all damaged to one extent
or another. However, some of the scenes, carved in relief, depict Ramesses II and various royal sons standing in the presence of Osiris, Hathor,
Thoth, Isis, Horus and other deities. Two cartouches belonging to Ramesses II were incorporated within the scenes. Apparently, at the top of the walls
were inscriptions of the son's names, but unfortunately this is the part of the decorations that are the worst damaged.
 A
relief depicting Hathor from Corridor 7
Chamber seven ends at the head of the T where there is a 1.5 meter tall rock cut image of Osiris that still retains some green paint pigments. Some
Egyptologists believe that the statue actually represents a deified Ramesses II represented as Osiris. The statue wears a Shebyu collar, which
normally consists of two or three strands of large beads. It was worn by figures of dead pharaohs who in death, were united with the sun god Re. It
was therefore a sign of deification. It should be noted that the chambers along corridor seven, after chambers eight and nine, have letters associated
with the corridor number. Therefore, they are the chambers which begin on the right side of the corridor as 7a, ending with 7h, and then beginning at
the rear left side, they are numbered 7i through 7p, back at the front of the corridor.
All manner of objects were found in corridor seven, including shabtis, the servants of the afterlife. Several of these were faience, as process by
which loft fired ground quarts or sand was layered with usually copper oxide to produce a shinny glaze. Fragments of calcite discovered may have been
part of a sarcophagus. The most common item found was many thousands of potsherds. Astraca were discovered, these are rock fragments with crude, but
often practical inscription. For example one astraca documented the receipt of 200 oil lamps for the tomb builders. There were bones from butchered
animals that were obviously left as offerings. Also found were:
hundreds of faience beads - modeled clay sycamore figs - two teardrop shaped bluegreen glass beads - neck and handel of a multi-colored glass vessel -
faience "wiglet" - rim fragment from a dark blue glass vessel - amulets - inlays from statues and furniture.
Chambers 7a through 7p
Only Chambers 7a, 7l and 7o have been cleared. These rooms vary somewhat in their dimensions, including both the size of the chamber itself and the
width of the doorways. Chambers 7g and 7j, adjacent to each other near the end of corridor 7, have the widest doorways. Most of the doorways are
similar in design with the exception of chamber 7o, which has a well cut cornice on the side facing corridor seven. Inside, chambers 7a, 7c and 7e the
ceilings are slightly vaulted, while the other chambers have flat ceilings.
All the chambers so far examined were plastered and decorated, though the decorations are mostly now in the lower debris on the
floor. Other than potsherds (and some mammal bones), no objects have been discovered within these chambers.
Chamber 8
Chamber eight is located just to the right after exiting the 16 pillared hall heading towards the rear of the tomb along corridor seven. This room had
certainly been decorated, but as usual, most of these decorations applied to plaster are now to be found as fragments on the floor. We can still see
traces of carved reliefs where the artists penetrated the plaster with their tools. Chamber eight appears to be the central chamber of a suit.
It has three side chambers, numbered 8a, 8b and 8c. Only chamber 8c has been cleared. It has a vaulted ceiling, and lies about .43 below the
level of chamber 8. This room actually lies beneath the floor of chamber three. Here, potsherds and numerous animal bones were recovered. We also know
that chamber 8b has a vaulted ceiling, while the ceiling in chamber 8a is flat.
Queen of the two Lands, Lady of Abu Simbel, Daughter of Isis, High-priestess of Hathor.
MR2 club Greece & MR2 club U.K. - International Corfu Meeting 01/05 - 08/05/2009
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| Εστάλη στις 26-8-2003 στις 09:30 |
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Chamber 9
Chamber nine is a side room off corridor seven and is very similar to chamber eight, across the corridor, with the exception that its ceiling is
slightly vaulted. It was probably built in stages. The vaulted ceiling changes in style, being noticeably different at the front and rear. The room
apparently was originally smaller, with only a single side chamber. Later it was almost doubled in side, and two additional side chambers were added.
Of these side chambers, only chamber 9b, which lies under chamber 6, has a vaulted ceiling. Chamber 9c lies under chamber 3.
This small chamber is instructive, because many marks were found in red and black ink that were made by the ancient surveyors. The marks helped guide
the quarrymen who were cutting into the tomb as they laid out curvature of the ceiling and blocked out areas for side chamber doors. Due to the
vaulted ceiling and the decorative theme, the room might possibly have been a burial chamber. On the right door jamb at the entrance we first
encounter a scene revealing a recumbent figure of the god, Anubis, as a jackal. Other scenes within the chamber include that of a winged sun disk and
a standing figure of the king. Though the original decorated plaster mostly fell to the floor, some of these scenes are still visible because the
artists penetrated the plaster, leaving weak reliefs in the bedrock.
Items found within this room include fragments of alabaster bird wings, a design called a rishi (feather) by Egyptologists. It could be a fragment
from a sarcophagus lid.
Other items included: three "wiglets" - three broken tubular faience beads.
Corridor 10
Corridor ten is the right, or southern wing leading off the rear of corridor seven. It has not yet been excavated. This corridor initially slops
downward, leveling out near its midway point. Like corridor seven, it has 16 single side chambers, though this is apparently not altogether certain
because the excavators are not sure they have reached the end of this corridor. The side chambers have been numbered 10a through 10p in a similar
fashion as corridor seven. Here, there are no suits of rooms as in corridor seven, nor any rooms with vaulted ceilings. Seven of the chambers lie n
the west side of the corridor, while nine are on the east side. So far, this corridor extends about 22 meters.
Corridor 11
Corridor eleven is very similar to corridor ten, but it slopes downward at several angles, never leveling out. It has been almost completely
excavated, though little was found. Here the sixteen single chambers are numbered 11a through 11p. When this corridor was being excavated, there was
great excitement because its general architectural form suggested that their might be a stairway leading to a lower part of the tomb, but the passage
ended abruptly at a bedrock wall. However, what was found were plastered floors. Around and next to the rear terminating wall of this corridor the
floor is covered with a layer of blue plaster. Stranger still, the floor of 11k had three thin layers of different colored plaster, which is probably
unique.
Not much was found in this corridor. The few items that were consisted of a fragmentary faience vessel and two "wiglets".
Queen of the two Lands, Lady of Abu Simbel, Daughter of Isis, High-priestess of Hathor.
MR2 club Greece & MR2 club U.K. - International Corfu Meeting 01/05 - 08/05/2009
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| Εστάλη στις 26-8-2003 στις 09:35 |
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The Forward Section of Tomb
Coming back to the 16 pillared hall, we find other corridors leading off in the direction of the entrance, on the forward side of the hall.
Corridor 12
Corridor twelve is the southern corridor heading back in the direction of the entrance. Its counterpart is corridor twenty, though all of that side
has not been excavated. However, it is expected that corridors twelve and twenty will mirror each other. Facing the the tomb entrance in chamber
three, corridor twelve would be to the right. This part of the tomb was completely unexpected, for no other tombs in the Valley of the Kings have
forward wings.
Corridor tweleve angles sharply downward, and has twelve side chambers numbered similarly to others in the tomb. A set of stairs leads into the
corridor, leading to a rough floor and then a second set of stairs and finally a third short stairway. Side chambers 12a and 12b lie beneath chamber
four. Chambers 12j, 12k, and 12l lie beneath chambers one and two. Chamber 12b is the only side chamber to have been so far cleared.
Between chambers two and three in corridor twelve, three pieces of a single canopic jar inscribed with the name of Ramesses II's ninth son, Sethy
were discovered, leading the excavators to believe was probably one of the burials in the tom. Also found in that location was mummy tissue, fragments
of wooden statues and "wigs" for statues.
Other items : uninscribed calcite shabti - fragment of uninscribed calcite vessel - three blue faience tubular beads - fragment of a bluegreen faience
vessel with a lotus design - bluegreen faience "title" with cartouche of either Thutmosis III or IV - small bluegreen faience plague - two
sherds of dark blue glass vessels.
Chamber 13
What is referred to as chamber thirteen is really more of a short corridor extending corridor twelve, with stairs at the beginning and end. There are
no side chambers in this brief corridor. Above the doorway leading into chamber thirteen is a lintel. All that was found here were two light blue
faience "wiglets" and fragments of conglomerate breccia, possible from a sarcophagus.
Chamber 14
Chamber thirteen leads into chamber fourteen, a three pillared hall oriented north-south. This room has largely not been excavated, but apparently
several single rooms, several suites and a corridor numbered sixteen, with more chambers, leads off chamber fourteen. Much of this area has not been
investigated at all.
Items so far discovered in chamber fourteen include: several light blue faience "wiglets" - one tubular faience bead - two faience disk
beads - three pieces of glass vessels - blue glass bead - two blue-green faience vessel fragments.
Chamber 15
This small chamber contained mostly silt with limestone chips. No notable objects were found.
Corridor 16
This corridor has not been fully investigated, and its termination is unknown. So far, it is eighteen meters long, and has eight side chambers.
Corridor 20
Excavation has not progressed far into corridor 20, but so far it appears to be a mirror image of corridor twelve.
Queen of the two Lands, Lady of Abu Simbel, Daughter of Isis, High-priestess of Hathor.
MR2 club Greece & MR2 club U.K. - International Corfu Meeting 01/05 - 08/05/2009
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| Εστάλη στις 26-8-2003 στις 09:39 |
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KV 5 - tomb for the sons of Ramesses II
General Site Information
Structure: KV 5
Location: Valley of the Kings, East Valley, Thebes West Bank, Thebes
Owner: Sons of Rameses II
Other designations: 5 [Lepsius], 8 [Hay], Commencement d'excavation ou grotte
bouchιe [Description], M [Burton]
Site type: Tomb
Orientation
Axis in degrees: 134.18
Axis orientation: Southeast
Site Location
Latitude: 25.44 N
Longitude: 32.36 E
Elevation: 169.87 msl
North: 99,637.895
East: 94,095.771
JOG map reference: NG 36-10
Modern governorate: Qena (Qina)
Ancient nome: 4th Upper Egypt
Surveyed by TMP: Yes
Measurements
Maximum height: 2.85 m
Mininum width: 0.61 m
Maximum width: 15.43 m
Total length: 443.2 m
Total area: 1266.47 m²
Total volume: 2154.82 m³
Additional Tomb Information
Entrance location: Valley floor
Owner type: Prince
Entrance type: Staircase
Interior layout: Corridors and chambers
Axis type: Straight
Decoration
Grafitti
Painting
Raised relief
Categories of Objects Recovered
Human remains
Jewelry
Mammal remains
Religious objects
Tomb equipment
Transport
Vessels
Written documents
Dating
New Kingdom, Dynasty 18, (entryway A, chambers 1 and 2, and part of pillared
chamber 3)
New Kingdom, Dynasty 19, Rameses II
History of Exploration
- Burton, James (1825): Mapping/planning
- Carter, Howard (1902): Visit
- Theban Mapping Project (1989-): Epigraphy
- Theban Mapping Project (1989-): Excavation
- Theban Mapping Project (1994-): Conservation
- Theban Mapping Project (1995-): Photography
link :www.kv5.com
Queen of the two Lands, Lady of Abu Simbel, Daughter of Isis, High-priestess of Hathor.
MR2 club Greece & MR2 club U.K. - International Corfu Meeting 01/05 - 08/05/2009
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| Εστάλη στις 26-8-2003 στις 09:51 |
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Qantir, Ancient City of Pi-Ramesse
The modern village of Qantir (Khatana-Qantir) marks what was probably the ancient site of Ramesses II's great capital, Pi-Ramesse or Per-Ramesses
("House or Domain of Ramesses" ). This city is situated about 9 kilometers (5.5 miles) north of Faqus in Sharqiya province of the eastern
Nile Delta (about 60 miles north-east of Cairo).
An enameled plaque from Qantir
It is known that Ramesses II moved the ancient Egyptian capital from southern Egypt into the Delta, probably both to escape the influence of the
powerful priests at Thebes, and to be nearer to the costs of modern Turkey and Syria in order to protect Egypt's borders.
The location of this city, well known from documentation, was long in question. However, in the 1920s, decorated tiles, including some with the name
of Seti I and Ramesses II were discovered in the area.
More recently, beginning in the 1970s, the site was examined by a German expedition, and the Austrian Archaeological Institute under the direction of
Manfred Bietak. They have been using magnetometer (gradumeter) to map out the long lost city. This relatively new method of archaeological discovery
is mostly non-intrusive, and in many cases where the land is agricultural in nature, is the only suitable method of exploring a site. By late 1999,
some 75,000 square meters had been measured in the fields around Qantir, and domestic areas, administrative quarters of a vast palace-temple compound,
a possible cemetery and a region with poorer houses were defined.
Their work firmly established the site as Pi-Ramesse, with ruins stretching as far as Tell el-Dab'a to the south covering an area of some thirty
square kilometers. Edgar Pusch, head of the German archaeological team, tells us that, "Something like this has never been detected before in
Egypt". The computer plottings made by the team show winding streets, structures that look like small houses, spacious buildings, palaces and a
lakeshore. Some of the amazing finds include a huge stable, to which was attached royal chariot and arms factories.
"Horses were very important in the expansion of the Egyptian empire and these stables were built on a strategic location close to the trade
routes leading to Lebanon and Syria, and not very far from the Hittites"
Mohamed El-Saghir, Head of the Pharaonic Antiquities Department in the SCA.
Below the two stable layers, workshops for the manufacture of glass, faience and Egyptian blue were found, and below this layer, a palace like complex
was found that contained a gilded gold floor overlaying stucco with an embedded polychrome cartouche of Ramesses II.
Around the arms and chariot factories, chariot parts, arrow shafts, flint arrowheads, javelin heads, daggers and bronze scales for body armor have
been discovered.
 
right: A lacquered and engraved brick
In ancient times, there were many more branches of the Nile river located in the Delta, but only two remain. Pi Ramesse was located on an extinct
branch that dried out beginning in the 20th Dynasty. Hence, kings of the 21sty Dynasty moved virtually all the monuments, item by item, to the new
capital at Tanis (as well as to other cities).
It is probable that a number of temples were located within this ancient city. These religious centers included a great temple of Re, along with other
temples to Amun, Ptah and Sutekh (Set, or Seth). The remains of the temple dedicated to Sutekh have been located in the southern part of the city.
There were probably many other smaller temples and chapels. We believe that among these were temples dedicated to Wadjit and Astarte.
Unfortunately, it will probably require another twenty years for the Magnetic mapping alone to be finished. Proper excavations of such an areas as the
stables would require a lifetime to complete.
Queen of the two Lands, Lady of Abu Simbel, Daughter of Isis, High-priestess of Hathor.
MR2 club Greece & MR2 club U.K. - International Corfu Meeting 01/05 - 08/05/2009
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| Εστάλη στις 26-8-2003 στις 12:44 |
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Colossus of Ramesses II in Memphis
The Colossus of Ramesses is an enormous statue carved in limestone. It is about 10m (33.8 ft) long, even though it has no feet, and
is located near the village of Mit Rahina. A small museum has been built to house this magnificent piece. The fallen colossus was found near the south
gate of the temple of Ptah, located about 30m from the huge limestone statue of Ramesses. Some of the original colors are still partly preserved.
This piece was found in 1820 by an Italian traveler Giovanni Caviglia. Mohammad Ali donated the statue to the British Museum, but the task of moving
the piece prevented the British from taking it to England. It is located in the archaeological zone of Memphis in the museum built to protect it.
The colossus is an incredible piece of work. Ramesses is portrayed in the prone position, but the piece is unfinished. How the piece
was made often eludes most guests who visit the statue. One sculptor, Stuart M. Edelson, has worked with stone for over 20 years. He has made the
following comment that helps detail what had to be done to make such a sculpture:
"Anyone who has never carved stone might marvel most the quarrying of the many-ton block, and then at the task of roughly hewing it into
shape, tasks which must have been gargantuan. Of course, this impressed me, but the drudgery of rough carving spoke to me of an effort that could have
been achieved by any gang of workers sufficiently numerous, supervised, and driven. Persistence on this grand scale is not uncommon. The distinction
of the Ramesses colossus lay elsewhere.
The essence of this great statue lies in the many square yards of carved surface. Faced with a task of such magnitude, a cold sweat would form on the
brow of any modern worker in stone. I scrutinized a ten-foot-long portion of the royal leg. Along its entire length no flaw distracted from the grace
and power of the sinewy, kingly stride, and I knew something of the difficulty with which such perfect surfaces could only be achieved.
Among the many problems presented by this stone, it likes to chip unpredictably to the terror of the sculptor who would shape it. The stone was
familiar to me. I had worked on a small piece of similar but softer material the year before, and the twenty years' experience that went into my
small sculpture provided an insight into the true greatness of the colossus before me.
I had spent countless hours vainly trying to grind out by machine the countless ripples that had formed in the carving process - on a much smaller
expanse of softer stone. Only after much experimentation with various abrasives and finally with different rhythms of sanding was I able to produce
the smooth surfaces essential to the overall impact of the work. Even on the small scale the effort involved was enormous.
When modern, mechanized marble yards cut, smooth and polish stone the size of the Ramesses, the shapes are either flat or they are featureless
columns. It is done with power tools the size of houses and even then the work is painstaking, time-consuming and risky. Here, the ancients achieved
perfection with hand-held stones and crushed abrasives applied to sticks. And the shapes wrought were the complex, subtle forms of the human
anatomy.
How these master carvers achieved perfect surfaces on this scale with simple tools was beyond my comprehension. My own twenty
years' experience provided no clue. But clearly this was not the work of slaves. This forty-foot length of stone could only have been brought to
life through the sensitive hand and watchful eye of a master sculptor, and with a great deal of loving care.
Unlike so many works on a herculean scale, this Ramesses allowed for no imprecision in areas the sculptors knew could not be seen. The hidden places
were equally finely finished. There were no technical concessions to the many near-insuperable problems that had to be faced. Looking at the supreme
craftsmanship that went into the body's hidden recesses as well as its conspicuous visible areas, it was clear to me that all involved in making
this image had the integrity and wisdom worthy of the god the great king was meant to represent."
........
Queen of the two Lands, Lady of Abu Simbel, Daughter of Isis, High-priestess of Hathor.
MR2 club Greece & MR2 club U.K. - International Corfu Meeting 01/05 - 08/05/2009
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Nefertari
Decipher my eyes!
Μηνύματα: 18.541
Registered: 19-2-2003
Τοποθεσία: Pi-Ramess
Member Is Offline
Διάθεση: the '2 corners like on rails...
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| Εστάλη στις 27-8-2003 στις 10:02 |
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The Cenotaph Temple of Ramesses II at Abydos
About one third of a kilometer to the northwest of Seti I's well known temple at Abydos, on the western edge of the village of Beni Mansur,
Rameses II built a temple for himself, which while not completely preserved, retains the details of its plan and many of its brightly painted reliefs
that are possibly the finest in any monument ever built by Ramesses II. Indeed, this temple, with its pink and black granite door frames, sandstone
pillars and a sanctuary of alabaster, must have been the most beautiful and richest among the temples that Ramesses II built. Judging from the quality
of the scenes in low relief comparable to the quality of those found in the temple of Seti I, it seem unquestionable that the artists must have come
from this earlier generation.
This temple was also dedicated mainly to Osiris though, while built when Ramesses II was still co-ruler with Seti I, it retained a more conventional
design patterned after contemporary mortuary temples at Thebes. The walls of the temple, made of limestone, are very reduced, now standing only about
two meters (6 feet 6 inches) high.
The first pylon and court are now ruined and the pink granite portal leads straight into a second peristyle court surrounded by a colonnade of Osirid
pillars on its north, east and south sides. None of the pillars are preserved to their full height and the engaged Osirid statues of the king all lack
their heads and shoulders. The north wall of the court depicts processions of priests and offering bearers with a decorated bull and gazelles, as well
as soldiers, Libyans and others. Also on the north wall there are some interesting graffiti. Some ancient amateur artist inserted an image of the god
In-hert and a painted priest before him bears the inscription 'Djed-Iah, the justified, wab-priest of Osiris, Djedi-ankh-f'.
Offering Bearers at the Ramesses II's Temple at Abydos
At the back of the court on the southwestern side is a raised portico with two chapels dedicated to Seti I and the king's deified ancestors on
the left and two chapels to the nine gods of the Ennead and Ramesses II (and Osiris Khenty-Amentiu) on the right. The shrine of the ancestors once
contained a table of kings on its north wall, part of which (the 'Second Abydos List' ) is now in the British Museum.
On the north wall of the portico Ramesses carved nine name-rings of the Asiatic tribes he conquered. A magnificent highly polished black granite
gateway, five meters tall and decorated with scenes and inscriptions, which has been restored in the center of the portico leads us into the first
hypostyle hall.
The first hypostyle hall, known as the Hall of Appearance, was decorated while the young Ramesses was still his father's co-ruler though his
cartouches were later altered to contain his own royal titles. Eight rectangular pillars supported the roof which is now missing. The decoration of
this hall is similar to that in the court and portico, but it has a brightly colored dado on its lower walls depicting the Nile gods. These are
painted in different colors; red represents the Nile at inundation, blue represents winter and green, summer. Other depictions portray scenes of the
pharaoh making his offering to Osiris, heading a procession, carrying the Abydos cult symbol into the temple, and being crowned. At the western end of
the hall's south wall a narrow staircase ascended to the roof, though there are now only 12 stairs remaining.
 
Left: Hekat in her human form; Right: Anubis in his human form
The second hypostyle hall contains eight sandstone pillars with three chapels each leading off from the left and right walls. The chapels on the left
side were probably dedicated to the gods of Thebes, while those on the Right to the Gods of Abydos. In one of the latter shrines on the north wall
there is a colorful relief of the goddess Hekat 'Mistress of Abydos', usually portrayed as a frog, but in this case showing her human face.
Next to her the god Anubis 'Lord of the Sacred Land' also has the head of a man rather than the usual jackal. This is the only known example
of Anubis with a human head.
At the rear of the second hypostyle hall are three sanctuaries. The central shrine is the 'alabaster' sanctuary of Osiris where we can see a
restored statue group in gray granite which was brought from another location in the temple and depicts (probably) Osiris, Isis, Horus, Seti I and
Rameses II. This room also featured a double false door on its rear wall. The northern of these sanctuary may have been dedicated to Isis, while the
southern of the three was most likely dedicated to Horus.
In the corners of the western wall at the north and south are two chambers thought to be statue halls which also have some very colorful reliefs. Each
of these contain nine decorated niches and the southern chamber has a beautiful relief of Ramesses offering to Osiris who is being protected by an
unusual winged, humanoid, djed pillar. This is thought to be one of the earliest representations of a symbol which became popular in later
dynasties.
Only the lower parts of the exterior walls still exist and the northern and western walls bear a version of Ramesses II's Battle of Kadesh in
beautiful incised relief, though not as complete as in some of his later monuments such as the renditions at the Temple of Luxor, Abu Simble and the
Ramesseum. However, the quality of these reliefs far exceed the others, made possible by the fine limestone used in this temple. On the southern
exterior wall there is the lower part of a calendar of feasts which lists offerings provided by royal endowment to be presented on the days of the
festivals. Beneath this Ramesses II describes his temple, along with its building and endowment, which seems to be accurate in what remains today. He
describes a pylon of white limestone, granite doorways and a sanctuary of pure alabaster which must have been very beautiful in its time.
Queen of the two Lands, Lady of Abu Simbel, Daughter of Isis, High-priestess of Hathor.
MR2 club Greece & MR2 club U.K. - International Corfu Meeting 01/05 - 08/05/2009
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Nefertari
Decipher my eyes!
Μηνύματα: 18.541
Registered: 19-2-2003
Τοποθεσία: Pi-Ramess
Member Is Offline
Διάθεση: the '2 corners like on rails...
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| Εστάλη στις 3-9-2003 στις 09:33 |
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The Ramesseum, the temple of million years
Ramesses II built his fabulous mortuary temple on the site of Seti I's ruined temple, where he identified himself with the local form of the God,
Amun. It was begun early in his reign, and took twenty years to complete. It was described by Diodorus as the 'tomb of
Ozymandia' which inspired a verse by the great poet, Percy Bysshe Shelley. Diodorus also mentions a 'sacred
library' at the temple, though modern Egypologists have found no evidence to support this claim. This great temple reportedly rivaled
the wonders of the temple at Abu Simbel, and is very similar both in reliefs and architecture to Ramesses III's mortuary temple at Medinet Habu.
However, Ramesses built the temple too close to the Nile and the flood waters took their toll. Only a single colonnade remains of the First
Courtyard.
The main building where the funerary cult of the king was celebrated was a typical stone-built New Kingdom temple. It consisting of two successive
courtyards with pylon entrances, and a hypostyle hall with surrounding annexes. The pylons, some of the oldest examples of such structures, are
decorated with scenes from the Battle of Qadesh (Kadesh). These scenes show Ramesses fighting the Hittites. He is depicted in a
heroic counterattack, standing in his chariot firing arrows with deadly precision at the fleeing Hittites.
The second court is much more complete then the first. It is flaked both east and west by pillarered porticos with Osiride statues of Ramesses. These
statues show Ramesses being summoned to rebirth in anew life, tightly wrapped in a shroud with his arms crossed, holding his scepters.
The hypostyle hall has a well preserved ceiling in the center. It was lit by traceried windows. Behind the facade on the interior (south) wall is a
scene showing the capture of the Syrian fortress of Dapur, while across the hall at the far end of the west wall, Ramesses Ii si depicted receiving
his scepters from Amun-Re. The Hall lead to a room for the sacred bark (a ritual boat) and sanctuary.
The remains of the complex include a royal palace and a large number of mud-brick granaries and storerooms, as well as a small temple dedicated to
Ramesses' mother Tuya and wife Nefertari.
Beneath the floor of the mortuary temple is a shaft tomb of a Middle Kingdom priest that was excavated by James Quibell in the late nineteenth
century. This very interesting find revealed religious and magical artefacts, including a statuette of a woman wearing a lion mask and holding two
snake wands (now in the Manchester Museum), an ivory clapper, a section of a magic rod, a female fertility figure, a bronze cobra wand (now in the
Fitzwillima Museum, Cambridge) and a box of papyri in scribed with a wide range of religious, literary and magical texts.
It is also likely that there was a school for scribal training in the complex, as evidenced by a large pile of ostraca. A number of papyri of the
Third Intermediate Period have been found at the site, as well as an elite cemetery of about the same time period.
In front of the ruins is the base of the colossus of Ramesses that once stood 17m (about 69 feet) high. The statue would have weighed more
than 1,000 tons and was bought from Aswan in one piece. On the granite colossus's shoulder is an inscription describing Ramesses as the
"sun of Princes". The statue fell into the Second Court and the head and torso remain there, but the other broken pieces are in
museums all over the world.
It is this statue that Shelly's poem, though completely incorrect, alludes to :
I met a traveller from an antique land
Who Said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert, Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed.
And on the pedestal these words appear:
"My name is Ozymandias, king of kings;
Look on my work, ye Might, and despair!?
Nothing beside remains, Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,
The lone and leve sand stretch far away.
Queen of the two Lands, Lady of Abu Simbel, Daughter of Isis, High-priestess of Hathor.
MR2 club Greece & MR2 club U.K. - International Corfu Meeting 01/05 - 08/05/2009
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