Medinet Habu is an archaeological locality near the foot of the Theban Hills on the West Bank of the Nile River opposite the modern city of Luxor, Egypt. Although other structures are located within the area, the location is today associated almost exclusively (and indeed, most synonymously) with the Mortuary Temple of Ramesses III.
Location of Medinet Habu
Medinet Habu is an archaeological locality near the foot of the Theban Hills on the West Bank of the Nile at Al Bairat, Al Qarna, Luxor Governorate, opposite the modern city of Luxor, Egypt.
Temple of Amun
Just left of the Mortuary Temple of Ramesses III entrance is the Temple of Amun (Ancient Egyptian: Djeser Set), dating to the 18th Dynasty, built by Hatshepsut and Thutmose III. It has undergone many alterations and modifications, partially in the 20th, 25th, 26th, 29th and 30th Dynasties and the Greco-Roman period.
Temple of Ramesses III
The Temple of Ramesses III is some 150 m (490 ft) temple long, is of orthodox design and closely resembles the Ramesseum. It is well preserved and surrounded by a massive mud-brick enclosure, which may have been fortified. The original entrance is through a fortified gatehouse known as a migdol (resembling an Asiatic fortress).
Just inside the enclosure, to the south, are chapels of Amenirdis I, Shepenupet II and Nitiqret, all of whom had the title of Divine Adoratrice of Amun.
The first pylon leads into an open courtyard lined with colossal statues of Ramesses III as Osiris on one side and uncarved columns on the other. The second pylon leads into a peristyle hall, again featuring columns of Ramses III. This hall leads up a ramp (through a columned portico) to the third pylon and then into the large hypostyle hall (which has lost its roof).
In Coptic times, a church was inside the temple structure, but it has since been removed. Coptic carvings have altered some of the carvings on the main wall of the temple.
Temple of Ay and Horemheb
Located just north of the Mortuary Temple of Ramesses III, right up to the mud-brick wall surrounding it, lies the poorly-preserved Temple of Ay and Horemheb.
