Ramesseum
The Ramesseum is the mortuary temple of the great pharaoh Ramses II. The remains are imposing and majestic and impress the visitor. In the past the temple struck Diodorus Siculus who meticulously described it as the tomb of Osimandia, Greek contraction of Usermaatra, part of the surname of Ramses II.
The plan, which follows a classic pattern, is not based on a perfect rectangle probably because it was desired to follow the orientation of a small temple dedicated to the mother of Ramses, Tuia, which pre-existed to the right of the current one, and also to arrange the pylon so that it faced the temple of Amun at Luqsor, on the opposite bank of the river.
Two successive courtyards, each preceded by a pylon, lead into the large hypostyle hall, which is accessed by three doors. The central door is on the axis of two other successive smaller hypostyles, of a vestibule and of the sanctuary. The left door is on the axis, after the great hypostyle, of another sanctuary with three chapels preceded by a hypostyle and a vestibule. Finally the door on the right is instead in correspondence with two identical rooms, side by side and open onto the hypostyle.
The central sanctuary was probably dedicated to Amon. For the lateral sanctuary, on the right and on the left, we can only make hypotheses. The inner face of the first pylon bears reliefs of the campaigns against Hittites and Syrians, with the battle of Qadesh (Poem of Pentaur).
In the first courtyard, on the left side behind a double row of columns, there was the facade of a sort of palace with a columned audience hall and a throne room. The facade also included a window, the so-called "window of apparitions".
In front of the second pylon there are the remains of a colossal statue of Ramses II. Modern evaluations calculate its height - the king was represented seated - at about 17 meters. The second courtyard is adorned with Osiriac pillars, representing the king as Osiris. Around the temple there are remains of brick constructions, with vaulted rooms; there were warehouses and also a school of scribes of which papyri were found.
