Nineteen photographs of Medinet Habu, the mortuary temple of Ramesses III, made between 1851 and 1862.
Medinet Habu was photographed from the 1850s onward, when sand and village houses still covered parts of the temple. One caption records that the great court then enclosed the remains of a Christian church, a reminder that the temple had been lived in and reused long after the pharaohs. The pictures run from the first views of the walls to the royal pavilion, the courts and the ruined halls. To plan a visit, see our Medinet Habu guide.
Six views of the temple as a whole and of its gateways, from Bedford, Frith and Teynard.
A general view of Medinet Habu, the mortuary temple of Ramesses III, photographed by Bedford on 18 March 1862. See how much of the temple stands above the sand. The temple lies on the Theban west bank; its fortified enclosure and monumental gateways are among its distinctive features.
A view of Medinet Habu in Frith’s 1857 series. The old title also names the “Memnonium”, which usually means the Ramesseum, a different temple on the west bank; see our Ramesseum gallery. Notice how the two names appear in one title.
A general view of the principal front structures at Medinet Habu, by Teynard, 1851–52. See the gateway and the walls that stand behind it. The British Library catalogue describes the view as looking towards the first pylon of the Temple of Rameses III, and Teynard’s note says the ruins lie within a mud-brick enclosure 300 metres wide and 320 long (“une enceinte de briques crues de 300 mètres de large sur 320 de long”).
The main entrance structures at Medinet Habu, photographed by Teynard in 1851–52. The British Library describes a close view looking towards the gateway in the first pylon of the Temple of Rameses III, with a screen and two composite columns in the foreground. Observe the size of the gate against the ground around it. Compare it with Frith’s entrance view in this section.
The entrance to the temple at Medinet Habu, in Frith’s series of around 1857. Compare it with Teynard’s main entrance to see how the two photographers frame the gateway.
Royal Collection Trust describes this as the second pylon of Ramesses III’s temple, seen from the first court. Through its gateway the second court is visible, littered with broken columns, and beyond it the entrance to the hypostyle hall. The pylon’s outer face is covered in hieroglyphs, including a large figure of the king on the left.
Two views of the palace buildings attached to the temple.
Part of the royal pavilion in the temple-palace of Ramesses III at Medinet Habu, photographed by Bedford on 18 March 1862. Note the stonework of the pavilion walls. The pavilion stands beside the temple’s first court.
The plain, square palace window at Medinet Habu, around 1857, as the old title describes it. See how simple its frame is. The window belongs to the palace buildings beside the temple.
Eight views of the courts inside the temple, from Frith, Bedford and Teynard.
The first court at Medinet Habu, in Frith’s series of around 1857. See the open space and the walls that enclose it. Visitors enter this court straight after the first pylon.
A colonnade of Osiride pillars, each fronted by a statue of the king as Osiris, god of the dead. No date is recorded, and the catalogue does not name the temple: Osiride pillars belong to several New Kingdom temples on the west bank, including both the Ramesseum and Medinet Habu, so the site is not confirmed. Observe the line of figures and how close the pillars stand.
The Great Court of Medinet Habu, which at the time enclosed the remains of a Christian church, photographed by Bedford on 17 March 1862. Royal Collection Trust gives the Great Court as the temple’s second court, where the church was built. Notice how the church remains sit inside the older temple court. Columned courts are a hallmark of Ramesses III’s temple.
The second court at Medinet Habu, in Frith’s series of around 1857. Note the columns and the walls around the court. The second court lies beyond the first.
A second Frith view in the second court at Medinet Habu, around 1857. Royal Collection Trust describes a portico with ruined Osiride pillars on the left and a colonnade portico behind, with smaller standing columns in the middle ground and fallen ones in the foreground, a local man seated on one of them. The court also holds later additions to the temple.
Later structures in the second courtyard at Medinet Habu, which Teynard’s plate calls “constructions postérieures”, photographed in 1851–52. See how these additions sit within the older court.
The north-west gallery of the second courtyard at Medinet Habu, 1851–52. The British Library notes that Teynard’s identification of the view as the south-east gallery was corrected to north-west by Catharine Roehrig, citing Kathleen Howe and others, Félix Teynard: Calotypes of Egypt (1992), p. 24. It describes a view along a row of pillars with bas-relief decoration and hieroglyphic inscriptions, with square pillars opening into the second court on the left. See the line of the gallery along the court.
Sculptural fragments on the north-east face of the later structures at Medinet Habu, photographed by Teynard in 1851–52. Observe the carved surface; the temple is known for its extensive carved reliefs.
Three more views: the remains of a hall of columns, seen twice, and a gateway with its portico.
The remains of the Hall of Columns at Medinet Habu, in Frith’s series of around 1857. Note the columns that still stand among the broken ones, and at how much of the hall is missing.
Another view of the ruined Hall of Columns at Medinet Habu, dated 1857. The bases and lower parts of four large columns fill the foreground, with more columns and hieroglyph-carved walls behind on the left, and a pile of debris beside a partly collapsed brick structure on the right.
The propylon, or gateway, and portico of the small temple at Medinet Habu, photographed by Bedford on 18 March 1862. See the gateway and the portico columns in one frame. The small temple lies beside the great mortuary temple.
Who and when. Three photographers made the pictures on this page. Félix Teynard worked here in 1851–52, and his five plates were published as Égypte et Nubie in about 1858. Nine views are from Francis Frith’s 1857 Nile series. Five are catalogued by Royal Collection Trust, which holds the prints; four are matched by title and series. Francis Bedford made five: four are dated March 1862, during the Prince of Wales’s tour, and matched to Royal Collection Trust records, and one is undated.
Reading the photographs. Start with the gateways, then see how the courts open one after another. Compare Teynard’s main entrance of 1851–52 with Frith’s entrance of 1857 and Bedford’s general view of 1862. Where an old title names the “Memnonium”, it usually means the Ramesseum, a different temple; see our Ramesseum gallery.
Medium, size and old title for each picture appear under the photograph itself. Links go to the holding institution’s record where one is available.