The exterior rear wall of the south tower of the first pylon is carved with a dramatic scene of Rameses III standing in a war chariot drawn by two majestic horses. He is a confident charioteer: his right leg is nonchalantly draped over the side of the chariot and his foot rests on the pole. The king is racing into Nile marshlands, hunting wild bulls, his long spear poised for the kill. Two bulls already lay dead in the papyrus thicket and a third crumples slowly to the ground. Fish and birds flee in panic as soldiers armed with bows race forward, following their king into the fray.

 In the scene above, the king hunts antelope and wild asses. Egyptian kings routinely boasted about their prowess as hunters, especially of lions and bulls, and such traditional and highly stylized scenes were routinely included in temple relief to demonstrate their control over the chaotic forces of nature. Immediately south of the temple stand the remains of a brick palace where Rameses III held court when at Madinat Habu. Actually, two palaces were built here, one atop the other.

It is the second that has been partially restored and its walls topped with a protective course of fired brick and cement. Evidence of the first palace can still be seen on the southern outer wall of the temple; there are traces of barrel vaults, walls, and holes cut into the stone. The plan of the second palace, modeled after that of Rameses II at the Ramesseum, includes a series of ceremonial rooms between the window of appearances in the south temple wall and the king’s audience hall. Inscriptions adjacent to the window of appearances state that the king came here “to see his father, Amen” during such ceremonies as the Opet Festival and the Beautiful Festival of the Valley. It was through the doorways in this temple wall that Rameses III entered the palace, carried on a sedan chair into the audience hall, a rectangular room with four columns and a stone dais for the royal throne. To its immediate right (west) there is a toilet for His Majesty’s comfort.

The south outer wall of the temple is covered with one of the longest inscriptions known from ancient Egypt. It was based on a similar text inscribed on the walls of the Ramesseum and is called the Madinat Habu Calendar. The text lists many of the ceremonies that were performed here each year. Entries give the name of the festival, its dates and duration, and details of the kinds of offerings that are to be made.

 In one festival, for example, each kind of bread to be offered up is named, the type and quantity of flour to be used is given, and the size and shape of the loaves and the number of loaves to be baked are described. Servants bearing baskets of offerings on their heads march in procession below the inscription.The area between the palace and the western mudbrick enclosure wall is filled with the remains of temple offices and priestly residences. These continue around the corner, between the temple and the enclosure’s western gate. In the southwestern corner four stone columns that formed part of the residence of the Dynasty 21 scribe Butehamen are still standing. He was one of the officials at the end of the New Kingdom who was responsible for supervising the cutting of tombs in the Valley of the Kings. Butehamen and other artisans from Dayr alMedina moved into the Madinat Habu compound when economic conditions had deteriorated to the point that bands of marauders were attacking and robbing people in the workmen’s village.

 The craftsmen, fearing for their safety, moved within the temple walls for protection. The west wall of the temple is covered with scenes of military campaigns against the Kushites, a people who lived in Nubia south of the First Cataract, and against the Libyans in the west. The Libyan battles continue on the temple’s north outer wall (at its west end), where battles against the Sea People are also shown (at the east).

The Libyans and the Sea People joined forces against Egypt during the reign of Rameses III. For a quartercentury, they posed a serious threat to its northern and western borders. In the fifth year of the king’s reign, his army lashed out in the attacks documented in these scenes. These battles temporarily quashed the enemy, but Rameses III was forced to attack again in his eighth year and these battles, too, which finally brought the Sea People to their knees, are shown in detail.

Of particular interest is the naval battle fought off the coast of western Asia. It is one of the earliest naval battles ever depicted. Some of the enemy’s boats have capsized and bodies of dead sailors float in the churning waters. An Egyptian craft with a duckheaded prow makes ready to draw alongside an enemy craft and a sailor in the crow’s nest lobs stones at it with a slingshot. In the second court, where other scenes depict the battle with the Sea Peoples, Rameses III described how he cleverly led the Sea Peoples to defeat: “A net was prepared for them, to ensnare them.

As they entered secretly in the mouth of the harbor, they fell into it, being caught in their place.” Between the temple and the northern enclosure wall there is a confusing hodge-podge of Roman and Christian buildings from the ancient town of Djeme. Numerous carved blocks from a Christian church lie scattered about the area.

From" The Illustrated Guide to Luxor" by kent R.Weeks ,published by the American University in Cairo Press. Copyright © 2005 White Star S.p.a