The
Ramesseum was the Mortuary Temple of Rameses II or Rameses the Great who reigned
for 67 years as Pharaoh from 1279-1213 BC. It is one of a few temples of its
type that lie along the west bank of the Nile. The temple was also dedicated
to the chief god Amun. Mortuary temples were built in honour of the dead kings
and offerings were made to the gods of the temple to ensure the king's existence
in the afterlife.
The temple is in the process of being repaired. Part of the great pylon remains but has been damaged by flooding over the years. Rameses recorded his Syrian campaigns on this pylon and there are also scenes from his war against the Hittites. Most of the decoration both in reliefs and religious texts are depicting his reign and his military power and strategies.
On the south tower he shows himself larger than life in his chariot charging into battle.
The only part of the first court remaining is part of the west wall. Part of a colossal statue of Rameses lies on the floor. From the measurements of its remains it has been estimated that it must have been over 57 feet high, weighing over 1000 tons.
The second court has also largely been destroyed although some of the osirian pillars representing the deceased Rameses still remain.
The surviving part of the front wall is decorated with scenes of Rameses celebrating the festival of Min as god of the harvest and of Rameses being blessed by the gods.
Three steps up lead into the portico and beyond this is the hypostyle hall, similar to that at Karnak. With the central columns having capitals with open papyrus flowers and the lower ones having buds. The columns are carved with images of Rameses making offerings to the gods.
In the next hall, the first small hypostyle hall the reliefs show priests carrying the sacred boat of Amun.
At the end Rameses is seated under the sacred tree while Thoth and Seshat inscribe his name on the leaves to acknowledge him as a worthy successor of his forebears.
Around the temple itself are an enormous number of vaulted storage chambers
which formed one of the state granaries. It has been estimated that when full
these stores could have held enough grain to feed 3400 families for one year.
The craftsmen of Deir el-Medina staged a strike outside the Ramesseum when their
rations failed to show up and were given food from these stores to tide them
over until their "pay " arrived.
These were reputedly the grain stores of the bible story of Joseph, the dream interpreter.
