Akhmim Town

Temple of Meritamun

The Temple of Meritamun is the archaeological site called by the native people of Akhmim “el birbe”, or the temple. The Deutsches Archäologisches Institut Abteilung Kairo (DAIK) made excavations in the area in 1981 and discovered in Karm al-Tawr remains of a massive temple built by Ramesses II. A cartouche of Emperor Trajan was also found in this temple. The temple was also completed in the following periods.

Table Of Contents
  1. Location of the Temple of Meritamun
  2. Excavation of the Temple of Merit Amun

Location of the Temple of Meritamun

The Temple of Merit Amun or the Temple of Ramses II lies in Karm al-Tawr, Akhmim, Sohag Governorate.

Excavation of the Temple of Merit Amun

The Egyptian Antiquities Organization excavated this area under the direction of El-Masry. They discovered fragments of a statue of Ramesses II and a colossus of his daughter Meritamun, measuring 11 meters in height.

Later, the Supreme Council of Antiquities excavations in 1987 revealed two seated statues of Ramesses II, a figure of the high priest of Min under King Aye, Nakht- Amun, and a female calcite statue of Aphrodite or Venus, dating to the Roman period. These statues were found in the northeastern corner of this site. The site was turned into an open-air museum in 1995. It is some meters lower than the current ground level displaying the statue of Meritamun in the centre. They discovered a Queen statue and parts of a seated colossus belonging to Ramesses II, surrounded by mud-brick walls in 1991, approximately 45 meters to the north of the temple of Ramesses II. The rest of this site lies under the neighbouring modern Muslim cemetery. Illegal excavators discovered the head of a colossus of Ramesses II.

The Supreme Council of Antiquities excavated and found the rest of the statue and an enormous colossus of the same King 2003. The latter Colossus is the most giant known seated limestone colossal statue. It measures 700 tons in weight and 13 meters in height. The temple court of Min most probably lay between the seated colossal statues of Ramesses II and that of Merit-Amun. A limestone pavement, which measures about 23 meters long and 3.5 meters wide and is enclosed by some limestone blocks and basins, is situated about 250 meters from the Ramesside temple. Excavations are still happening in this area. Therefore, the antiquities ministry plans to transfer the modern cemetery to another site.