This area was once a home to a large number of crocodiles, which were held to be sacred. The only crocodiles in-sight, now, are mummified and located in the chapel of Hathor within the temple. The temple was excavated last century with parts lost into the Nile and to an earthquake in 1992. The temple has two of everything,
Karnak, a village in Upper Egypt, was built in honor of Amon. Recent excavations have pushed back the site date to around 3200 B.C. The ruins of Karnak cover a considerable area, though nothing remains of the houses, palaces or gardens that must have surrounded the temple in ancient times. The most northerly temple is the Temple of Mont, the god of war. Little remains of this temple but its foundation. The southern temple, which has a horseshoe-shaped lake, was devoted to the goddess Mut, wife of Amon. Between these two temples lay the largest of all Egyptian temples, and one of the largest in the world, the great metropolitan temple of Amon. It is not one complete temple, but rather was built by many different pharaohs, over a great amount of time, making the site a record of Egyptian history.
Many of the main roads which lead to the temples of Karnak used to be lined with sphinxes. The sphinxes which line the entrance to the First Pylon of Karnak combine the body of a lion with the head of a ram. The ram was a symbol of the god Amon for whom the temple was built. Each sphinx protects, between its forelegs, a standing statue of the king-- Ramesses II Standing in the shadow of the First Pylon of the Temple of Amon at Karnak (in Luxor, Egypt), one is struck by the length of its east-west axis and the colossal size of its columns. There are no fewer than 10 pylons, separated by courts and halls. And, like all other temples in Egypt, this one symbolizes the mound of the original creation. The ground rises ever so gradually from the entrance toward the sanctuary. The columns are stone replicas of the vegetation which was growing in the the marshy land around the mound of creation.
In the center of this first court are the ruins of the kiosk of Taharqa (690-664 B.C.) Beyond the kiosk before the Second Pylon are two standing statues of Ramesses II (c.1279-1213 B.C.) After the Second Pylon, the The Great Hypostyle Hall of the Karnak Temple was built by Ramses I, but much of it was decorated by Seti I and Ramses II, both of whom are credited with building it although the actual project began earlier. The north-south axis of the hall provides views which reveal not only the immensity but also the practicality of the architecture. The central row of 12 columns on the east-west axis are 69 feet (21meters) in height, about 33 feet (10 meters) in circumference, and have open papyrus capitals. The 122 columns in the side aisles are 43 feet (13 meters) in height, 27.5 feet (8.4 meters) in circumference, and have closed papyrus-bud capitals. The area of the vast hall is 5,800 yards.
The whole of this hall was roofed with stone slabs, and the interior was quite dark. The difference in height between the central and the side aisle columns was used to provide natural light through clerestory windows which have vertical stone slats. Historical reliefs on the outer walls show the victories of Seti I in Palestine and Ramses defeating the Hittites in the Battle of Kadesh.
Within the Great Temple of Amon are included a number of other notable small shrines and temples. A temple to Ptah, on the north side of the site, was built by Hatshetsut and Tutmose III. Ramesses dedicated a temple in the south to Khons, the moon god, and a temple to Opet.
Karnak, a village in Upper Egypt, was built in honor of Amon. Recent excavations have pushed back the site date to around 3200 B.C. The ruins of Karnak cover a considerable area, though nothing remains of the houses, palaces or gardens that must have surrounded the temple in ancient times. The most northerly temple is the Temple of Mont, the god of war. Little remains of this temple but its foundation. The southern temple, which has a horseshoe-shaped lake, was devoted to the goddess Mut, wife of Amon. Between these two temples lay the largest of all Egyptian temples, and one of the largest in the world, the great metropolitan temple of Amon. It is not one complete temple, but rather was built by many different pharaohs, over a great amount of time, making the site a record of Egyptian history.
Many of the main roads which lead to the temples of Karnak used to be lined with sphinxes. The sphinxes which line the entrance to the First Pylon of Karnak combine the body of a lion with the head of a ram. The ram was a symbol of the god Amon for whom the temple was built. Each sphinx protects, between its forelegs, a standing statue of the king-- Ramesses II Standing in the shadow of the First Pylon of the Temple of Amon at Karnak (in Luxor, Egypt), one is struck by the length of its east-west axis and the colossal size of its columns. There are no fewer than 10 pylons, separated by courts and halls. And, like all other temples in Egypt, this one symbolizes the mound of the original creation. The ground rises ever so gradually from the entrance toward the sanctuary. The columns are stone replicas of the vegetation which was growing in the the marshy land around the mound of creation.
In the center of this first court are the ruins of the kiosk of Taharqa (690-664 B.C.) Beyond the kiosk before the Second Pylon are two standing statues of Ramesses II (c.1279-1213 B.C.) After the Second Pylon, the The Great Hypostyle Hall of the Karnak Temple was built by Ramses I, but much of it was decorated by Seti I and Ramses II, both of whom are credited with building it although the actual project began earlier. The north-south axis of the hall provides views which reveal not only the immensity but also the practicality of the architecture. The central row of 12 columns on the east-west axis are 69 feet (21meters) in height, about 33 feet (10 meters) in circumference, and have open papyrus capitals. The 122 columns in the side aisles are 43 feet (13 meters) in height, 27.5 feet (8.4 meters) in circumference, and have closed papyrus-bud capitals. The area of the vast hall is 5,800 yards.
The whole of this hall was roofed with stone slabs, and the interior was quite dark. The difference in height between the central and the side aisle columns was used to provide natural light through clerestory windows which have vertical stone slats. Historical reliefs on the outer walls show the victories of Seti I in Palestine and Ramses defeating the Hittites in the Battle of Kadesh.
Within the Great Temple of Amon are included a number of other notable small shrines and temples. A temple to Ptah, on the north side of the site, was built by Hatshetsut and Tutmose III. Ramesses dedicated a temple in the south to Khons, the moon god, and a temple to Opet.
Approximately 3,500 years ago, the Egyptian city of Hierakonpolis flourished between the present cities of Cairo and Aswan. Hierakonpolis, Greek for City of the Hawk, is an archaeological discovery covering over 144 square miles of rich archaeological sites making it a very valuable find.
During Napoleon's expedition to Egypt in 1798, his scholarly associate, Vivant Denon, discovered the edge of an ancient temple. Throughout the next one hundred years, various visitors described other monuments in the area, though little extensive research was completed. It wasn't until the arrival of Quibell and Green in 1897 that proper research would be done on the area. Through their exploration, they discovered a very domesticated Predynastic site. They were not excited about their dull finds however, and nicknamed the area a "Predynastic Cemetery". While researching an area that a temple had been removed from, the two men joyously discovered the earliest large-scale metal statues from antiquity. A large gold and copper statue of the Hawk god, Horus, was found, as well as a life-size statue of King Pepi I, which was opened to unveil a statue of his son encased within. During their further exploration of this town mound, they found heaps of other artifacts such as pottery, figurines, weapons and statues. These finds confirmed the ancient traditions of the ancient site which may have been associated with being a very early unified state.
Along with the City of the Hawk, Green also discovered numerous temples at the southern end of the desert's rich site. After Green left Hierakonpolis, few people bothered with excavating the site which remained intact and untouched under a fog of disregard until 1967. From here, several archaeologists worked on the various sites, uncovering more pottery, figurines and architecture that would help us visualize the past life of the ancient Egyptians.
Another major discovery at Hierakonpolis was the predynastic burial sites. The subjects of the burial sites resembled a form of the beginnings of mummification. Renee Friedman and her team have found bodies whose hands and heads were wrapped with pads and strips of linen. This is significant as it predates the earliest evidence of mummification by over 500 years. However, this early form of mummification seemed restricted on the female members of the society. The specific use of padding and binding did not seem to serve to preserve the remains as later mummies would, but rather to preserve the subject's articulation.
The spoils of Hierakonpolis are vast. The burial mounds, pottery, elaborate masks and other art work, massive gold and bronze statues, weapons, animal remains and architecture have allowed archaeologists to see further into the Egypt's past and to hypothesize the great advances made up until the infamous time of the Pharaoh's. This serves to give us a clue to the evolution of ancient civilization as seen in ancient Egypt.
The excavation of the site of Helwan is located southwest of Maasara and north of Ezbit-el-Walda. It is fifteen miles south of Cairo and two miles west of the Nile River. The excavation area lies just outside the Eastern Desert and close to the present town of Al Fayyum. The site dates back to the first and second dynasties. Thus, the site is approximately five thousand years old. The director of these excavations was Zaki Y. Saad. He worked in connection with the Department of Antiquities of the Egyptian government.
The first season of excavations began July 8,1942 and lasted until May 27, 1954. By the end of the last season, a total of 10,258 tombs were excavated. The tombs varied in size and composition. According to Saad, wealthy and revered men had large tombs with numerous chambers and sometimes staircases. Poor men were more often buried in simple graves, but still were accompanied by a variety of objects that would be needed in the afterlife. Many of the tombs for the wealthy were built using mud bricks and/or limestone.
The artifacts found in the tombs were indicative of the industry and technology of the First and Second Dynasty. Flint, one of the most difficult materials to modify, is utilized in several ways ranging from armbands to long knives. Some of these flint knives were up to 50 centimeters in length, an accomplishment of the craftsman from that time period. Ivory was also found in the tombs. It was used for vases, statuettes, utensils and decorative ornaments and jewelry boxes. Another material found was copper, from which they made mirrors, needles, saws, knives and other household objects.
The excavations at Helwan shed light on the lifestyles of ancient Egyptians during the First and Second Dynasties. It showed that the ancient Egyptians had the expertise of constructing tombs of stone before the building of the pyramids. It also showed that they were expert craftsmen of copper, flint, ivory, and several other materials. The excavations at Helwan also improved Egyptologists' understanding of ancient Egyptian technology, dress, customs, religious beliefs, and written tradition.
