Medamut
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5mi/8km northeast of Luxor, amid the houses of a village in the cultivated land, are the ruins of the Temple of Medamut, the ancient Egyptian town of Madu which was the northern neighbor of Thebes.
During the Old Kingdom there was a temple here dedicated to the falcon headed war god Month and his sacred bull. Under the Middle Kingdom it was enlarged and rebuilt by the Kings of the 12th and 13th Dynasties, in particular by Sesostris III, and this process continued under the New Kingdom reflecting the increasing importance of the deity honored here.
The remains of the temple as we see it today date from the Ptolemaic period (third century B.C.) and Roman Imperial times. Oriented from west to east, the temple differs in many respects from other Ptolemaic temples. The precinct, enclosed by a brick wall, was entered by a gateway built in the reign of Tiberius, now collapsed. In front of the pylon like main front of the temple were three curious kiosks from which doors gave access to the large colonnaded court decorated with reliefs of Antoninus Pius.
During the Old Kingdom there was a temple here dedicated to the falcon headed war god Month and his sacred bull. Under the Middle Kingdom it was enlarged and rebuilt by the Kings of the 12th and 13th Dynasties, in particular by Sesostris III, and this process continued under the New Kingdom reflecting the increasing importance of the deity honored here.
The remains of the temple as we see it today date from the Ptolemaic period (third century B.C.) and Roman Imperial times. Oriented from west to east, the temple differs in many respects from other Ptolemaic temples. The precinct, enclosed by a brick wall, was entered by a gateway built in the reign of Tiberius, now collapsed. In front of the pylon like main front of the temple were three curious kiosks from which doors gave access to the large colonnaded court decorated with reliefs of Antoninus Pius.
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Tips: ACCESS. Track (usable by cars) from Luxor, 5mi/8km southwest.
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