Thebes - Mortuary Temple of Sethos I

Entering the left hand part of the temple from the colonnade, we come first to the Chapel of Ramesses I, a small room with two columns. On the right hand and left hand walls are low reliefs, apparently usurped by Ramesses II; on the right he is seen kneeling before Amun, Khons and the deified Sethos, with the goddess Mut behind him. Off the chapel open three chambers. On the right hand and left hand walls of the central chamber Sethos I is depicted burning incense before the barque of Amun and anointing the statue of his father, Ramesses I, with his finger; on the rear wall is a double false door with a representation of Ramesses I's Osiris coffin, on which is perched Isis in the form of a falcon. The other two chambers, built by Ramesses II, have reliefs of poor quality. A door on the left of the chapel opens into a narrow corridor, the left hand wall of which is destroyed down to the lowest courses of masonry. From this steps lead down to two underground chambers. At the far end of the corridor, on the right, is a room containing sunk reliefs dating from the reign of Ramesses II which depict Ramesses and his father Sethos making offerings to the gods and performing other ritual acts.

The Colonnade, which preserves nine of its original ten papyrus cluster columns with closed capitals, bears on the architrave a dedicatory inscription by Ramesses II. On the rear wall, flanking the central doorway, are reliefs of men and women bearing votive offerings; those on the left have lilies on their heads, representing Upper Egypt, those on the right the papyrus of Lower Egypt. Above, left, the King offering incense in the presence of the sacred barque of Amun, borne by priests; right, the King before various deities.

The ruinous part of the Mortuary Temple of Sethos I to the right of the Sanctuary consists of the long Hall of Ramesses II, with an altar and a number of subsidiary chambers, now destroyed. The sunk reliefs, depicting Ramesses II making offerings to various gods, are inferior in quality to those in the central and left hand parts of the temple.

The central door leads into the Hypostyle Hall, which has six papyrus columns with closed capitals. On the roof slabs over the central aisle are the winged solar disc, flying vultures and the names of Sethos I, enclosed by snakes and flanked by two rows of hieroglyphics. The low reliefs on the walls depict Sethos I and Ramesses II making offerings to various gods; to the left Mut, to the right Hathor of Dendera, who is suckling Sethos.

Beyond the hypostyle hall is a transverse antechamber on a higher level, with five chambers opening off it. The central chamber is the Sanctuary, which still preserves the base for the sacred barque of Amun and has mural reliefs of Sethos I burning incense in front of the barque. Beyond the sanctuary is a room with four pillars and low reliefs of Sethos I, on either side of which are badly ruined side chambers.

Of the six side chambers, most of them with well preserved roofs, one is destroyed. The fine reliefs show Sethos I making offerings to various gods and performing ritual acts. In the third chamber on the left, on the left hand wall, is Thoth in front of the King's sacred barque; on the right hand wall, to the left, the King at table with the goddess of the temple behind him; to the right, the King in priestly vestments performing ceremonies in front of himself; on the rear wall, the King as Osiris seated in a chapel, with the gods of Thebes (Amun and Mut) on his left and the gods of Memphis (Ptah and Sakhmet) on his right. In the first chamber on the right are sunk reliefs of Ramesses II pacing out the precincts of the temple in the presence of Amun, Khons and Mut (right) and offering incense to these gods (left).