Through the Eras

ReligionTEMPLE COMPLEX. The main elements of a templecomplex were fairly standard throughout Egypt. Thetemple area was segregated from profane space by a largebrick wall, called a temenos. Entrance into the complexwas gained through a gateway called a pylon. The pylonwas a pair of high trapezoidal towers flanking a doorway,one on each side of the road leading up to the temple.The only limit on the number of pylons a templecould have was the space available and the resources thatthe king wanted to expend. Some temple complexes,such as the temple of Amun at Karnak, had ten pylons.For hundreds of years, successive kings would add a pylonto the temple. In front of pylons, tall poles with pennantswere raised. Generally four such poles were in frontof each pylon, although Karnak had eight. Colossal statuesof the king or obelisks could also be set up in frontof the pylon. These colossal statues could serve as focalpoints for the worship of the king. Obelisks were taperingshafts topped with a pyramid-shaped stone called apyramidion. They were usually made of pink granite,and the pyramidion could be plated in gold. As such,they served as solar symbols, and the pyramidion wasperhaps the first and last part of the temple to receivethe sun’s rays.GOD’S ROAD. The road to the temple, leadingthrough the pylons, was called the “god’s road.” Thiswas the path the god took when he left his temple inprocession during festivals. Beginning with the reign ofHatshepsut (1478–1458 B.C.E.), this path could be linedwith small sphinxes. Smaller gateways, called propylons,could also be built along this pathway. As one passedthrough the last pylon, one entered the forecourt of thetemple, called the “court of the multitude.” This opencourtyard was as far as the general public could go. Heredevotees could gather to participate in the public aspectsof temple festivals. Individuals who received the king’spermission could erect statues of themselves within thiscourtyard. These statues, serving as proxy for the deceaseddonor, allowed the donor to continually enjoy thegod’s presence and to participate in the offerings donatedto the temple.INTERIOR DESIGN. Passing through the forecourt,one entered the hypostyle hall, called the “fore-hall” orthe “great court.” This room was filled with giganticcolumns spaced close together. The columns took theform of plants such as palm trees, bundles of papyrus, orlotus stalks, with capitals of papyrus umbels or lotus blossoms(open or closed). The hypostyle hall gave way tothe offering chamber, a room containing many small tablesand stands set up to receive the offerings for the gods.Next was the barque shrine, a room that included a largeplatform intended to support the god’s boat when not inuse. Egyptian gods generally traveled by boat when theyleft their temples. These boats were carried on the backsof priests and contained a small shrine to house theportable image of the god. Leaving the barque shrine oneenters the inner shrine of the temple, the room thathoused the god’s image. As the visitor proceeded fromthe hypostyle deeper into the temple, the ceiling becameprogressively lower, and the floor rose slightly. As a result,the main sanctuary of the temple was the highestpoint on the ground floor. This room had a low roof andwas usually totally dark. It contained a small shrine, calleda naos, which contained the image of the god. This imagecould be made of wood, stone, or gold, and has beenestimated to be approximately twenty inches high. Thisimage was the focus of the daily temple ritual. Since morethan one deity could be worshipped in a temple, therewas usually more than one sanctuary. The hypostyle hall,the offering chamber, the barque shrine, and the innertemple room lay along the main axis of the temple, usuallyoriented east-west. In addition, a temple had subsidiaryrooms used for the various functions necessary tothe cult. There could be a laboratory, where incense andointments were prepared; a treasury where sacred vesselswere kept; and a room through which libations enteredthe temple, sometimes called a Nile room.HOUSE OF LIFE. The temple proper was often surroundedby auxiliary buildings such as storehouses, granaries,kitchens, administrative offices, workshops andstudios for the manufacture and repair of statues and furnitureused in the temple, and dwellings for the priests.One such building was called the “House of Life.” Thisstructure served as the place where texts were studied,copied, and assembled. Priests in the House of Lifewould prepare the texts that the lector priests would readduring the daily temple ceremony. Papyri containingspells for protection for the living and for the dead (Bookof the Dead ) were also composed there. Medical textbooksand astronomical information were also compiledand copied in the House of Life. Temples of the Ptolemaicand Roman periods (332 B.C.E.–395 C.E.) couldinclude a building that the French Egyptologist J.-F.Champollion called a “mammisi,” meaning birth house,and a sanatorium. A mammisi depicted the events surroundingthe conception and birth of a god’s offspring,such as Ihy, son of Horus and Hathor (found at Dendera).A sanatorium was a building to which the sickcould be brought to seek healing from the gods or medicaltreatment from the priests. Here pilgrims could practiceincubation, in which they would spend the night inhopes of receiving a dream detailing the cure for their228 Arts and Humanities Through the Eras: Ancient Egypt (2675 B.C.E.–332 B.C.E.)