| Merenptah is not be a name that immediately comes to mind when we think of pharaohs, which is a little surprising as he was the thirteenth son of Ramses II and became pharaoh after the death of his much more famous father. He ruled Egypt for around ten years, between 1213 - 1203 B.C.
Merenptah was the third
pharaoh of the twentieth dynasty and lived in Memphis - the old capital of Egypt near to Cairo - but he chose buried in Luxor and has the second largest tomb in the Valley of Kings. In Luxor we also have his temple, which was built with the help of many borrowed pieces from nearby temples, most notably that of Amenhotep III.
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We took this view of the Temple of Merenptah from the top of the Theban hills. In the far distance is the River Nile, and the tourist hotels that line it.
As you can clearly see the temple is basically just foundations, with a few pieces displayed where they were found. It is worth a visit, especially as many of the smaller pieces that were found here, are on display in the onsite museum.
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This is the small museum at the Temple of Merenptah.
In the glass cases amongst many other interesting items, are a collection of small moulds that were found in the temple, which the ancient Egyptians used to make beads for necklaces and other jewellery. |
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Large statue fragments in the second court. |
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The stela is a copy, as the original was taken to the Cairo museum. It is commonly referred to as the “Israel Stela” as it contains the only reference to Israel, in any ancient Egyptian text.
We understand that it reads “Israel is devastated, her seed is no more. Palestine has become a widow for Egypt”. Though there is no specific evidence, some say Merenptah is the Pharaoh of the Exodus. |
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Don't forget to go around and see the back of the “Israel Stela” as shown here. |
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This room contains many pieces that were borrowed from the Temple of Amenhotep III. These originally formed part of an arch in that temple, though here at the Temple of Merenptah, they were used as part of the foundations. |
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Opposite the previous room is another room, but the bas relief's, like the one shown here, are much more colourful. The cartouche on this section, though only partially shown is definitely not that of Merenptah and from what we can see, we believe this to be another borrowed, piece as this is Amenhotep III. |
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This bas relief of the ancient god Wepwawet is often confused with that of Anubis.
Wepwawet is a wolf, whereas Anubis is a jackal. |
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