Temple of Seti I
Glorious Seti in the West of Thebes
The Temple of Seti I, the northernmost of the Theban temples, lies just beyond the road to the Valley of the Kings, near the village of el-Tarif. Today, visitors enter through a gate in the northern wall. This magnificent temple, named “Glorious Seti in the West of Thebes,” was constructed by Seti I and dedicated to Amun-Re and the cult of his deified father, Rameses I.
After Seti I’s passing, his son, Rameses II, continued the construction and decoration. Over the years, the temple has seen various uses. During the Roman Period, artisans worked here, and in the Coptic era, parts converted into a church and homes. Since 1972, the German Archaeological Institute has been actively involved in its restoration and research.
The temple originally featured two grand pylons made of mud-brick, flanked by a row of sphinxes that created a ceremonial path through the courtyards. Although little remains of the first pylon, two sphinxes still stand near the main entrance. The second pylon has mostly disappeared, likely due to the fragility of its mud-brick construction and natural flooding. South of the first courtyard was a royal palace, notable as the first ritual palace attached to a temple.
The temple suffered significant damage from floods in 1994 and underwent extensive restoration. Access is granted through a small door located in the northeast corner of the reconstructed fortress-like enclosure wall.
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The temple’s front is decorated with a portico of ten columns. The southern part of the back wall displays scenes of Seti I, Ahmosi-Nefertari, and the Theban Triad’s boats, along with images of Seti and Rameses II. The northern part shows Seti I and Rameses II making offerings to various deities, along with a text from year 6 of Rameses III. On either side of the entrance to the hypostyle hall, the stelae of Amenemesse, later appropriated by Merenptah-Siptah.
The hypostyle hall boasts six elegant papyrus columns and high-quality reliefs from Seti I’s reign, decorated during his and his son’s co-rule. On either side of the hypostyle, six chambers dedicated to the Theban Triad and Osirian mortuary deities. Notably, in the second chamber on the right, a goddess personifying the temple depicted in a small vestibule behind the hypostyle that features additional chambers with lintels showcasing fifteen named deities from Egyptian mythology.
The sanctuary area includes a triple shrine for the Theban Triad (Amun, Mut, and Khons), where the deities’ barques housed during the ‘Beautiful Feast of the Valley’. A pedestal for Amun’s still stands. The ‘holy of holies’ at the rear contains scenes of the king performing temple rituals and a partly reconstructed false door of the king on the western wall.
South of the hypostyle hall, a series of chapels dedicated to the royal mortuary cult. The central chapel, dedicated to Seti’s father Rameses I, features a well-preserved false door showing Rameses I in a kiosk with a falcon above it. To the north of the hypostyle hall, a court devoted to the solar cult, unmistakably decorated by Rameses II, originally had ten pillars and a large solar altar, now broken. Niches around the walls, once holding statues of the king, depict scenes of Rameses II offering to various deities. This arrangement of royal and solar cult chapels resembles the upper terrace of Hatshepsut’s Temple at Deir el-Bahri. Behind this court, remnants of a staircase lead to a roof sanctuary.
Recent excavations have uncovered much about the temple’s outer complex, as well as reconstructed walls and plinths in the courtyards. A small sacred lake, currently empty, lies on the temple’s south side. Though ongoing, these efforts highlight the temple’s enduring significance, making it a worthy visit despite its lesser fame.
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