Abu Simbel › Menes » Ancient origins
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- Menes › Who Was
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Abu Simbel › Antique Origins
Definition and Origins
Abu Simbel is an ancient temple complex, originally cut into a solid rock cliff, in southern Egypt and located at the second cataract of the Nile River. The two temples which comprise the site were created during the reign of Ramesses II (c. 1279 - c. 1213 BCE) either between 1264 - 1244 BCE or 1244-1224 BCE. The discrepancy in the dates is due to differing interpretations of the life of Ramesses II by modern day scholars. It is certain, based upon the extensive artwork throughout the interior of the Great Temple, that the structures were created, at least in part, to celebrate Ramesses' victory over the Hittites at the Battle of Kadesh in 1274 BCE. To some scholars, this indicates a probable date of 1264 BCE for the initial construction as the victory would have been fresh in the memory of the people. However, the decision to build the grand monument at that precise location, on the border with the conquered lands of Nubia, suggests to other scholars the later date of 1244 BCE in that it would have had to have been begun after the Nubian Campaigns Ramesses II undertook with his sons and was built as a symbol of Egypt's power.
Whichever date construction began, it is agreed that it took twenty years to create the complex and that the temples are dedicated to the gods Ra-Horakty, Ptah, and the deified Ramesses II (The Great Temple) and the goddess Hathor and Queen Nefertari, Ramesses' favourite wife (The Small Temple). While it is assumed that the name, `Abu Simbel', was the designation for the complex in antiquity, this is not so. Allegedly, the Swiss explorer Burckhardt was led to the site by a boy named Abu Simbel in 1813 CE and the site was then named after him. Burckhardt, however, was unable to uncover the site, which was buried in sand up to the necks of the grand colossi and later mentioned this experience to his friend and fellow explorer Giovanni Belzoni. It was Belzoni who uncovered and first excavated (or looted) Abu Simbel in 1817 CE and it is considered likely that it was he, not Burckhardt, who was led to the site by the young boy and who named the complex after him. As with other aspects regarding Abu Simbel (such as the date it was begun), the truth of either version of the story is open to interpretation and all that is known is that the original name for the complex, if it had a specific designation, has been lost.
THE GREAT TEMPLE STANDS 98 FEET (30 METRES) HIGH WITH FOUR SEATED COLOSSI DEPICTING RAMESSES II FLANKING THE ENTRANCE.
THE TWO TEMPLES
The Great Temple stands 98 feet (30 metres) high and 115 feet (35 metres) long with four seated colossi flanking the entrance, two to each side, depicting Ramesses II on his throne; each one 65 feet (20 metres) tall. Beneath these giant figures are smaller statues (still larger than life-sized) depicting Ramesses' conquered enemies, the Nubians, Libyans, and Hittites.Further statues represent his family members and various protecting gods and symbols of power. Passing between the colossi, through the central entrance, the interior of the temple is decorated with engravings showing Ramesses and Nefertari paying homage to the gods. Ramesses' great victory at Kadesh (considered by modern scholars to be more of a draw than an Egyptian triumph ) is also depicted in detail across the north wall of the Hypostyle Hall. According to the scholars Oakes and Gahlin, these engravings of the events surrounding the battle,
Present a lively account in both reliefs and text. Preparations for battle are being made in the Egyptian camp.Horses are harnessed or given their fodder while one solder has his wounds dressed. The king's tent is also depicted while another scene shows a council of war between Ramesses and his officers. Two Hittite spies are captured and beaten until they reveal the true whereabouts of Muwatalli, the Hittite king. Finally, the two sides engage in battle, the Egyptians charging in neat formation while the Hittites are in confusion, chariots crashing, horses bolting and soldiers falling into the River Orontes. In the text, Ramesses takes on the whole of the Hittite army single-handed, apart from support rendered by [the god] Amun who defends him in battle and finally hands him the victory. (208).
Abu Simbel
The Small Temple stands nearby at a height of 40 feet (12 metres) and 92 feet (28 metres) long. This temple is also adorned by colossi across the front facade, three on either side of the doorway, depicting Ramesses and his queen Nefertari (four statues of the king and two of the queen) at a height of 32 feet (10 metres). The prestige of the queen is apparent in that, usually, a female is represented on a much smaller scale than the Pharaoh while, at Abu Simbel, Nefertari is rendered the same size as Ramesses. The Small Temple is also notable in that it is the second time in ancient Egyptian history that a ruler dedicated a temple to his wife (the first time being the Pharaoh Akhenaton, 1353-1336 BCE, who dedicated a temple to his queen Nefertiti ). The walls of this temple are dedicated to images of Ramesses and Nefertari making offerings to the gods and to depictions of the goddess Hathor.
A SACRED SITE
The location of the site was sacred to Hathor long before the temples were built there and, it is thought, was carefully chosen by Ramesses for this very reason. In both temples, Ramesses is recognized as a god among other gods and his choice of an already sacred locale would have strengthened this impression among the people. The temples are also aligned with the east so that, twice a year, on 21 February and 21 October, the sun shines directly into the sanctuary of The Great Temple to illuminate the statues of Ramesses and Amun. The dates are thought to correspond to Ramesses' birthday and coronation.The alignment of sacred structures with the rising or setting sun, or with the position of the sun at the solstices, was common throughout the ancient world (best known at New Grange in Ireland and Maeshowe in Scotland ) but the sanctuary of The Great Temple differs from these other sites in that the statue of the god Ptah, who stands among the others, is carefully positioned so that it is never illuminated at any time. As Ptah was associated with the Egyptian underworld, his image was kept in perpetual darkness.
Abu Simbel
THE ASWAN HIGH DAM
In the 1960's CE, the Egyptian government planned to build the Aswan High Dam on the Nile which would have submerged both temples (and also surrounding structures such as the Temple of Philae). Between 1964 and 1968 CE, a massive undertaking was carried out in which both temples were dismantled and moved 213 feet (65 metres) up onto the plateau of the cliffs they once sat below and re-built 690 feet (210 metres) to the north-west of their original location. This initiative was spearheaded by UNESCO, with a multi-national team of archaeologists, at a cost of over 40 million US dollars. Great care was taken to orient both temples in exactly the same direction as before and a man-made mountain was erected to give the impression of the temples cut into the rock cliff. According to Oakes and Gahlin:
Before the work began, a coffer dam had to be built to protect the temples from the rapidly rising water. Then the temples were sawn into blocks, taking care that the cuts were made where they would be least conspicuous when reassembled. The interior walls and ceilings were suspended from a supporting framework of reinforced concrete. When the temples were reassembled, the joins were made good by a mortar of cement and desert sand. This was done so discreetly that today it is impossible to see where the joins were made. Both temples now stand within an artificial mountain made of rubble and rock, supported by two vast domes of reinforced concrete. (207).
All of the smaller statuary and stelae which surrounded the original site of the complex were also moved and placed in their corresponding locations to the temples. Among these are stelae depicting Ramesses defeating his enemies, various gods, and a stele depicting the marriage between Ramesses and the Hittite princess Naptera, which ratified the Treaty of Kadesh.Included among these monuments is the Stele of Asha-hebsed, the foreman who organized the workforce which built the complex. This stele also relates how Ramesses decided to build the complex as a lasting testament to his enduring glory and how he entrusted the work to Asha-hebsed. Today Abu Simbel is the most visited ancient site in Egypt after the Pyramids of Giza and even has its own airport to support the thousands of tourists who arrive at the site each year.
Menes › Who Was
Definition and Origins
Menes (c. 3150 BCE) is the legendary first king of Egypt who is thought to have united Upper and Lower Egypt through conquest and founded both the First Dynasty and the great city of Memphis. His name is known from sources such as Manetho's Chronology (3rd century BCE), The Turin King List, and the Palermo Stone as well as from some scant archaeological evidence such as ivory engravings. In the early days of Egyptology, Menes was accepted as the first historical king based upon the written records. As time went by, however, and archaeological excavations failed to turn up any evidence of such a king, scholars began to question whether he had actually existed or was, perhaps, a composite figure drawn from the memory of the reigns of other kings.
The Egyptologist Flinders Petrie (1853-1942 CE) concluded that the name 'Menes' was actually an honorific title meaning "he who endures", not a personal name, and the first historical pharaoh of Egypt was Narmer (c. 3150 BCE) whose existence was firmly established both by the written record and archaeological evidence (most notably, the Narmer Palette, a siltstone engraving depicting Narmer's victory over Lower Egypt). In the modern day, Petrie's claim is the most widely accepted and Menes is associated with Narmer (though there are some scholars who associate the name with Narmer's son Hor-Aha). The legend of Menes, however, took on a life of its own quite independent of whatever the king Narmer may or may not have done.Narmer allegedly united the two lands of Egypt peacefully over time, married a princess to consolidate his power, and then began building projects and further developing trade with other cultures. These accomplishments, however, were not grand enough for the first king of Egypt who not only needed to be larger than life but also to symbolize a key concept in Egyptian culture : duality.
DUALITY IN EGYPTIAN BELIEF
For the Egyptians, life was a matter of balance and needed to be lived according to the principle of ma'at (harmony). This belief permeated every aspect of Egyptian culture including the office of the king. Manetho's Chronology begins by listing the many gods who ruled Egypt before Menes and, when it reaches the first king, makes clear that this man balanced Egypt by conquering the forces of chaos and presiding over a land of order. Whether this actually happened was not as important as what it symbolized. The scholars Oakes and Gahlin comment on this, writing :
The crux of the ancient Egyptian system of beliefs was the relationship between order ( ma'at ) and chaos ( isfet). Although a state of order was considered to be the ideal, it was acknowledged that an opposing yet interdependent state of chaos must exist in order for equilibrium to be achieved (336).
Ancient Egypt
The story of Menes' unification of Egypt is considered a symbolic representation of this duality so central to Egyptian culture.Prior to Menes there was conflict between the city states of Upper and Lower Egypt resulting in chaos; then came the great king who brought order and, from that order, prosperity. It was understood that chaos could come again, however, and so the king needed to be vigilant and, just as importantly, had to be a mighty warrior who could subdue the forces of chaos when the need arose. Oakes and Gahlin note:
The conventions of Egyptian art were perfect for illustrating the concept of duality, because symmetry was frequently used to create a balanced design. This is best exemplified by the artistic representation of the fundamentally important idea of the 'Unification of the Two Lands' ( sema tawy ). The ancient Egyptians viewed their country as consisting of two distinct parts: Upper Egypt ( Shemau ) and Lower Egypt ( Ta-Mehu ). These correspond to the South (the Nile Valley from the first cataract north to just south of Memphis) and the North (the Delta), respectively. The people believed that the origins of the state of Egypt could be traced to an act of unification of these two regions by a ruler named Menes (for whom there is no archaeological evidence) at the beginning of the early Dynastic Period (336).
Menes is said to have united the two lands through conquest and, afterwards, instituted policies which brought peace and order. As noted, it is now thought that Narmer was responsible for these advances and 'Menes' was his honorific; but whatever facts on Narmer's reign were available to the early historians, they were discarded or embellished upon to create the legend of the great king Menes.
MENES: THE LEGEND
Menes came from the city of Hierkanpolis (though it is also claimed he came from Thinis) and conquered the neighboring cities of Upper Egypt, Thinis and Naqada, before embarking on the campaign to subdue lower Egypt. Manetho credits him with expanding the borders of his kingdom by marching across the frontiers, bringing order out of chaos. He was a great warrior but also highly cultured and later writers (such as the Roman historian Pliny) claimed he invented written script.
MENES' REIGN OF 62 YEARS WAS SO PROSPEROUS THAT DIODORUS SICULUS CLAIMS MENES INVENTED THE CONCEPT OF LUXURY.
Once Egypt was unified and at peace, he instituted religious practices and formalized beliefs. His reign was so prosperous (lasting 62 years) that the Egyptians did not have to work as hard as they used to and developed hobbies such as carving, sculpting, sports, brewing beer, cultivating private gardens and living in luxury. In fact, the later writer Diodorus Siculus claims Menes invented the concept of luxury.
He rode on the back of a crocodile to escape rabid hunting dogs (founding the city of Crocodilopolis), founded the great city of Memphis, and established his capital there. According to Herodotus, he built Memphis after constructing a dam on the Nile to divert water away from the chosen site of his city and created his great palace and administrative buildings on land which had been under water (which accounted for the fertility of the surrounding plains). He instituted the practice of sacrificing to the gods and ensured that harmony was observed throughout the land. After a long and prosperous reign, he was carried off (or killed) by a hippopotamus.
It is not surprising that a hippomotamus should feature in Menes' end. The hippopotamus in Egyptian culture was a fearsome creature who was regularly hunted and killed and death by hippopotamus was considered among the worst. Further, the animal was associated with the god of chaos, Set, the first murderer who had killed his brother Osiris and been defeated by Osiris' son Horus. In keeping with the principle of duality, however, Set had a consort, Taweret, pictured as a woman with the head of a hippopotamus who was considered a protector. The dual nature of these two entwined gods was derived from the Egyptians' observations of the hippopotamus: the females protected and nurtured their young while the males were more aggressive and destructive.
Menes' death by hippopotamus could have been interpreted by an audience as meaning chaos had come and carried him away and, if such a thing could happen to so great a king, it could happen to anyone; people, therefore, should remain vigilant at all times. Tawaret was not associated with universal protection but only of mothers and children so it is unlikely that Menes' death would have been seen as a protective gesture by the gods who took him from earth at the appropriate time; but the association of the hippo with protection may have encouraged such an interpretation.
MENES: THE HISTORY
However Menes' death was viewed, his reign was considered a kind of golden age for Egypt when life was good and the land prosperous. The scholar Douglas J. Brewer writes:
These written accounts of Menes' accomplishments, however, date thousands of years after his death, by which time he had been transformed into a cult hero whose life and accomplishments were embellished with semi-mythical anecdotes (126).
The actual king who most probably united the two lands of Egypt was Narmer who was almost certainly from the city of Thinis.Narmer established himself as supreme king of Upper and Lower Egypt and married the princess Neithhotep of Naqada in an alliance to strengthen ties between the two cities. Although he is thought to have united Egypt peacefully, there is evidence he did so through military conquest. The Narmer Palette clearly depicts this king subduing Lower Egypt by force; though whether the inscriptions on the palette should be read as history or symbollically continues to be debated. Even so, he most likely led military expeditions through lower Egypt to put down rebellions and, as with the Menes' legend, crossed the frontiers and expanded his territory into Canaan and Nubia. He initiated large building projects and the small cities of the Predynastic Period of Egypt grew in size and scope.
Narmer Palette
Narmer would not have instituted religious practice but most likely formalized it. He certainly is responsible for the buildings dated to his time which, like all those that followed, expressed the religious beliefs of the Egyptians through their architecture.When Narmer was born or how he died is unknown but it is quite clear that such a king existed whereas the same cannot be said for Menes. Brewer writes:
Menes probably never existed, at least as the individual responsible for all the attributed feats. Rather he is most likely a compilation of real-life individuals whose deeds were recorded through oral tradition and identified as the work of a single person, thereby creating a central hero figure for Egypt's unification. Like the personalities of the Bible, Menes was part fiction, part truth, and the years have masked the borderline, creating a legend of unification (142).
Unification of Egypt, whether completed or only initiated by Narmer, was probably a slow process which took many years. The turmoil evident during the Second Dynasty (c. 2980 - c. 2670 BCE) supports the claim that unification was not accomplished in a single stroke by one king. Egyptian culture, however, needed the legend of Menes and the unification of Egypt in order to establish a connection between the first king and the enduring concept of duality. Oakes and Gahlin write:
This particular aspect of the notion of duality manifested itself very clearly in the royal titles. The king's chief titles were 'Lord of the Two Lands' ( Neb Tawy ) and 'King of Upper and Lower Egypt' ( Nesw Bity )...The regalia of kingship also reflected the idea of duality. The king might be depicted wearing the white crown associated with Upper Egypt, the Red Crown of Lower Egypt, or sometimes the Double Crown which incorporated the crowns of both regions. So north and south were distinct but both were necessary to create a whole (337).
The legend of Menes served to symbolize that whole. A great king capable of amazing feats who established a harmonious golden age at the beginning of recorded history was far more meaningful to later generations than a mere man who may or may not have unified the country. Like any founder of a nation throughout history, Menes served as an ideal of the culture's values and what it aspired to. Whether an actual man named Menes existed was irrelevant; what mattered was what his story meant to the people of his country.
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