Temple of Ramesses II
Temple of Ramesses II
The tabernacle is located approx. 300 m from the temple of Seti I., in the western part of the village of Beni Mansur. It is smaller and badly damaged, but in the past it belonged to the most beautiful and richest buildings of Ramses. The temple was built of limestone, and the doors are made of pink and black granite. The pillars are made of sandstone. The first pylon and courtyard are almost completely destroyed. The pink granite doorway leads to the second courtyard with a colonnade of Osirian pillars, where the statues of Osiris-Ramses were stripped of their heads and shoulders. On the north wall of the courtyard you can see reliefs with a procession of priests and donors decorated with a bull and gazelles and soldiers. On the west side, at the end of the courtyard on the right, there is a portico with two chapels dedicated to Seti I and deified royal ancestors and two chapels of Ennead (nine gods) and Ramesses II, as well as Osiris Chenty-Imentiu (on the left). The Ancestral Chapel has another list of kings on the north wall, which part (Second Abydos List) is in the British Museum. On the north wall of the portico, Ramses had nine names of the conquered Asiatic tribes carved.
Black granite gates (5 m) decorated with recently restored scenes and inscriptions lead to the first hypostyle hall (Hall of Appearances) formed in the period, while Ramses was co-regent. The cartridges were corrected later, entering the full title of the ruler. The decoration is similar to that of the courtyard and portico, stronger colors have been preserved in the lower parts.
The gods of the Nile are depicted in different colors: red is the flowing Nile, blue – during the winter, and green in summer. Elsewhere, the pharaoh presents gifts to Osiris and leads a procession, introducing the symbol of Abydos into the temple and crowning it. In the western part of the hypostyle hall there is an entrance to the staircase to the roof of the temple (12 degrees). The second hypostyle hall has eight sandstone pillars. There are three chapels on each side of the room. The northern ones were dedicated to the gods of Thebes: Thotowi, Min and Osiris, and the south has been destroyed, except the middle one for Osiris. The western chapels were dedicated to Amon-Re, Ozyrysowi i Horusowi. In the last chapel on the northern wall, a colorful relief with the goddess Hekat has been preserved, Lady of Abydos, a frog with a human face. Anubis is seen next to her, Lord of the Holy Land with a human head instead of a jackal. There are three chapels on the back wall of the hypostyle. Centralna is an alabaster sanctuary of Osiris, where a restored gray granite group stands, probably depicting Osiris, Isis, Horusa, Seti I and Ramesses II. The room has double blind doors. The northern sanctuary was probably dedicated to Isis, and the south – Horusowi. On both sides of the sanctuaries (on the north and south sides) there are rooms with beautiful colorful reliefs. Each of them has nine decorated niches. The southern room is decorated with, among others. relief with Ramses worshiping Osiris, protected by the winged humanoid pillar of Djed. The outer wall has survived only in the lower parts. The battle of Kadesh is visible on the north and west walls (fragments).