The temple of Amun
of Ramesses II
The temple consisted of a
forecourt, outer and inner halls,
pronaos and sanctuary. A series of
steps led to the forecourt. Its
floor used to be paved. Beyond the
forecourt lay two limestone steps
leading to the entrance of the
outer hall.
The page was last modified on October 2nd 2007
Sources:
1. Wilkinson, R. H. : The complete temples of Ancient Egypt.
London : Thames & Hudson, 2000.
2. Bomann, Ann H.: The private chapel in ancient Egypt : a study of the chapels in the
workmen's village at el Amarna with special reference to Deir el-Medina and other sites.
London : Kegan Paul International, 1991.
The temple complex is situated at the northern side of the settlement of Deir el-Medina.
The small building of The Ptolemaic temple dedicated to the goddess Hathor stands within
the mud-brick wall. Opposite the Hathor temple, across the valley to the east, remains
of a temple to Amun and the other members of the Theban triad (Mut and Khonsu) stand.
The temple was built by Ramesses II (1279-1212 BC).
Temples
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Standing in the pronaos
looking towards the south
west one can see the
enclosure wall of the main
temple - its southern part -
and in the left part of the
photo the western cemetery
of Deir el-Medina.
The outer hall used to be the
forecourt to the temple during the
first stage of the building. Later,
the temple was enlarged, and it
became an outer hall. It had
benches on both the northern and
the southern walls. The hall had
two centrally placed columns. The
benches and both columns are not
there any more. The outer hall
measured 6.40 by 5.20 m. Before
the doorway into the inner hall lay
the steps, in the form of tiers
spanning the width of the outer
hall.
A limestone threshold, consisting
of two unequally cut slabs, shows
architrave grooves and a pivot hole
to the right. There might have
been a single panel door leading to
the inner hall.
A flight of six steps, that runs
between balustrades with rounded
coping, leads to the pronaos. At the
top of the stairs there used to be
columns placed on either side.
The sanctuary was tripartite. The
dimensions for the shrines were 2 m
long by 1.90 m wide.
The view of the flight of six steps
looking west towards the entrance
into the pronaos. The floor of the
inner hall can be seen through the
doorway.
Standing in the pronaos looking
towards the west one can see the
enclosure wall of the main
Ptolemaic temple - its northern
part - and on the right the
chapels north of the enclosure wall.