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Mortuary Temples of Ancient Egypt

Egyptian mortuary temples were structures built as memorials for the deceased kings of ancient Egypt. Mortuary temples are also known to be called memory temples or a 'Mansion of millions of years'. Instead of being used as a temple to the imortal Egyptian gods, these temples were built for the purpose of paying tribute to a dead mortal god, also known as an Egyptian king. The structures of the mortuary temples dated from the New Kingdom in Thebes tended to be built several miles away from a tomb of the king the temple was built for. This served as a precautionary measure, for the mortuary temple that honored the mortal king as a god to be separate from the actual resting place, to ensure that the deceased god-king’s remains could reside undisturbed, with the treasures from life, in their hidden tomb. The ancient Egyptians believed that in order to live happily in the afterlife then they must have something that will leave a mark of the deceased’s existence, whether it be a statue or a marker of a written name. Since Egyptian kings were considered to be the mortal gods on earth, their afterlife paradise depended on being remembered by the living throughout eternity, their plea “speak my name and I shall live” was to be taken very literally, in order for these mortal god-kings to ascend to their rightful place beside the immortal gods.

To ensure that they would be remembered the kings built mortuary temples with the intent to be of use to the living. Although various mortuary temples differ in design they all incorporate three similar characteristics; the first similarity the buildings exhibit is that they have a court area located in the front part of the structure, usually surrounded by lime stone pylons and walls inscribed with scenes of celebrations, this was used for a multiple purposes relating to the services the temple provided for the ordinary citizens of Egypt, whether it be for a celebration, prayer, or personal devotion. The court of a mortuary temple represented the Egyptian earth after the moment of creation where the sun exists and extends its rays upon the earth. The second similarity mortuary temples show is the pillared hypostyle hall; this hall led into the third part of the temple, the sanctuary of the mortal god-king the temple was built for. The pillared hypostyle hall requested the transition from the land of the living, the court, to the world of the divine, the sanctuary, where the gods reside. The pillars of the hypostyle hall would be sporting carved and painted reliefs of the Egyptian god-kings. The final part of the temple, the sanctuary, was a dark, small room with no windows and its ceiling and floors were slanted. In the sanctuary the ancient Egyptians believed that the cosmos was continually being recreated within the sanctuary, and as long as the god was pleased with the offerings and prayers provided by the priests and the people, then the cosmos would continue to be recreated and thus there would not be any problems to occur in Egypt for the foreseeable future. Throughout the mortuary temple itself, there would be 'painted reliefs' of the mortal god during their time as a human in the land of the living, the reliefs and hieroglyphs would tell stories of the god-king’s bravery and wisdom for the time as the ruler of the kingdom of Egypt.

The temples housed priests of the deceased king’s preferred cult. Along with carrying out their religious duties, which included making offerings to the dead king’s spirit, and taking great care of the temple, the priest’s were also given the responsibility to tax a percentage of the goods made in Egypt and store the merchandise in the temple for the purpose of supporting the country during drought and hard times. Surrounding the temple there would be large expanses of land that the temple owned, mostly used for farmland, gardens and vineyards. Some temples had cannels, running from the Nile River, which would pass right in front of the mortuary temples to serve as a form of harbor to import and export goods and supplies. The mortuary temples that connected to the great pyramids had such cannel harbors flowing from the lifeblood of the Nile River, to the expanse of the dessert to serve this purpose. All mortuary temples were built at the edge of cultivation, on fertile land and where cannels can be constructed. The mortuary temples also featured yearly celebrations and festivals where people would bring offerings to the spirit of the deceased to support the dead in the afterlife. Most offerings to the dead consisted of water, jugs of beer, fresh linens, flowers, and anything the dead might need to live in the afterlife.

Holmes, Tony. "Speak My Name and I Will Live." Ancient Egypt Magazine. Jul 2010: 48. Print.

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Troche, J. and Jacobson, J., eds. An Exemplar of Ptolemaic Egyptian Temples. Apr 2010. Granada: CAA '2010 Fusion of Cultures, 2010. Print.

Millmore, Mark. "Ancient Egypt Temple of Rameses III Madinat Habu." eyelid.co.uk. eyelid.co.uk, 2012. Web. 12 Oct 2012. .

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