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Medinet Habu is the site of the Mortuary Temple for Ramesses III. It was a fortified site, and its walls enclosed the older Temple to Amun built by Hatshepsut and the Mortuary Temple of Divine Adortrices of Amun. The walls also enclosed a palace annex to the temple. It is thought that Ramesses III lived in the palace,and that his mortuary temple was built prior to his death. The Temple of Divine Adortrices of Amun was used to worship the various deceased daughters of Pharaohs who assumed this religious office. The Temple to Amun was the site of the annual pilgrimage of the Karnak Barque of Amun which was carried in procession from Karnak, to the Temple of Luxor, and then across the Nile to this temple.

Amun of Luxor (Luxor Temple) traveled to and from the Temple of Amun at Medinet Habu every ten days, presumably coinciding with the beginning of each "decan" marked by the star charts. There was a canal and a boat landing to facilitate these processions.

It is recorded that Ramesses III met his death in the upper rooms of the gate. It is speculated that he was murdered in a palace plot.

The temple itself is typical, with three courts. The first is the most public and profane, with higher levels of purification being required for entry to the second and the highest purification required for entry to the third.

There is still color on the murals on the walls of the first and second court. The Temple was appropriated by various groups over the centuries as it was fortified. Many of the murals were covered with whitewash or plaster, thus preserving them.

Who Was Ramesses III?

Ramesses III was the last great pharaoh of Egypt. A king of the 20th Dynasty, he came to the throne of Egypt shortly after the fall of King Priam at Troy. (Ramesses II was a pharaoh of the 19th Dynasty.)

During his reign, the Lybians invaded twice in an attempt to settle their people in the lush Nile Valley. He repulsed the majority, however, remnants remained to assimilate and play a part in the future dynastic succession of Egypt.

He was also called upon to repulse the "sea peoples", a loose federation of pirates from the islands of the Mediterranean. Although he won these battles, the invasions by these people foreshadowed the land invasions of other tribes which shifted into Palestine and other Egyptian hegemonies in the area now known as the Middle East.

After Ramesses III, the Egyptian empire began to shrink. Where it had at one time stretched throughout the Middle East, it began to retreat back to the Nile Valley.

The Mortuary Temple at Medinet Habu documents these great battles of Ramesses III in its reliefs.