Representational evidence, Early Dynastic
Several types of representational evidence are known for the earliest culture in Dynastic Egypt. First, ceremonial palettes, stone palettes for grinding eye paint, and maceheads, decorated with various representations, date to the transitional period from the late/final Predynastic to the 1st Dynasty, at the end of the fourth millennium BC. The scenes on the palettes shift from clashes with wild animals (such as ostrich and lion hunts, and taming animals with music) to battles with human enemies (with the king as a lion ripping apart the enemy, or as a bull trampling the foe underfoot). On one side of the famous Narmer Palette, excavated at Hierakonpolis, the king in lion form breaches enemy settlements. The Macehead of King Scorpion, also excavated at Hierakonpolis, depicts the king and an unknown figure allied with him in a ritual seed sowing.
Second, there are hippopotamus ivory knife handles decorated with repeated rows of animals, also found on the so-called ivory "magic staffs." These cannot be accurately dated, but they probably belong to this transitional phase. The Gebel el-Araq knife handle also belongs here, although its authenticity has been questioned. In addition to representations of the hunt, the decoration on this knife handle also includes a water and land battle.
Third, there are inscribed square tags of hippopotamus ivory or wood. Excavated in the royal tombs at Abydos, these tags have been known for some time and date from Dynasty 0 to the end of the 1st Dynasty. While the oldest examples are still unreadable, it may yet be established that they contain information about the origins of the goods to which they were affixed. The 1st Dynasty tags on oil jars are dated annually by "year names." Since these years were named for important events, the labels contain information for reconstructing the history of this period. Some labels appear to have been reused, as occasionally on the reverse there are details of other objects to which they were originally attached (such as game-boards or sandals).
Finally, there are seal impressions, rolled onto the large mud sealings on (wine) jars. These contain information about various administrative units and their organizational changes. Their use begins at the end of the Predynastic period and continues until the end of the Old Kingdom.
Representational evidence, Middle Kingdom private tombs
One of our richest sources of information about the way the ancient Egyptians of the Middle Kingdom lived, worked and conceptualized the universe is the representational art with which the walls of private tombs of the elite were decorated. The most impressive and significant of these tombs were built for nomarchs and other high officials of the country’s provincial nomes. Some of the more important sites at which decorated tombs, especially from the early Middle Kingdom, have been found are Kom el-Hisn in the Delta, Dahshur in the Memphite area, el-Lisht in the Fayum, Beni Hasan, Deir el-Bersha, Meir, Asyut and Qau el-Kebir in Middle Egypt, and Thebes and Aswan in the south. After the reign of Senusret III, large provincial tombs are found only at Qau el-Kebir; other high-ranking nobles were buried in the cemeteries associated with the royal pyramids.
Before examining the representational art in these tombs, it is useful to look briefly at the architectural contexts in which this art is found. Although some of the important decorated tombs are free-standing mastabas (tombs with rectangular mudbrick superstructures), the majority were cut into the limestone cliffs that border the Nile Valley. The most usual form for these tombs was a single or multiple-roomed chapel, which often included a small shrine containing rock-cut statues and burial shafts leading to the chambers in which the mummies and their equipment were buried. The principal area of figurative decoration within these structures was the chapel, which could be adorned with painted relief or with flat painting. These chapels are sometimes so richly decorated that the walls appear to be covered with ornate tapestries in vibrant colors. Some tombs contained, instead of two-dimensional decoration, three-dimensional models of many of the objects or scenes that appear in the decoration; this is a carry-over from a practice common in the First Intermediate Period, and enhances our understanding of the pictorial representations.
Many of the tomb scenes illustrate activities connected with the production and processing of food, such as plowing fields, baking bread, brewing beer, fowling and fishing. Other scenes depict the manufacture of objects such as chairs, beds, coffins, jewelry, pottery and cloth. These depictions are usually quite lively, full of detail, and often lend insight into the activities represented. For example, in a fishing scene from the 12 th Dynasty tomb of Ukhhotep at Meir (Tomb B4), the net used is clearly delineated, down to the lead weights on the bottom and the wooden floaters on the top. Each of the fish within the net is drawn so carefully that its species can be identified.
Associated with many of the tomb scenes are labels which describe the activities being carried out, identify the individuals depicted by name (thus enabling them to share in the eternal life of their masters), or record conversations between the workers. These descriptive labels can help us to understand the processes of food production and manufacture which are represented, and the conversations give us glimpses into the comradery between the workers and sometimes hint at the ancient Egyptian sense of humor. We even see wrongdoers being judged, scolded and punished for their transgressions.
Due to the exactness with which the workers are drawn and the fact that many are identified by name, scholars are able to draw some conclusions about the ethnic composition of the Egyptian population. For instance, the armies which fight in battles illustrated in some tombs are composed of a mixture of Egyptians, Nubians, Asiatics and Libyans. Nubians can also be found among the personal servants of at least one noble. The tombs provide us with information about the division of labor between the sexes; men do most of the hunting, fishing and manufacturing, while women are shown spinning and weaving, baking and brewing, and working in the fields.
Tomb decoration of the Middle Kingdom also offers us a considerable amount of information about Egyptian religion, especially as it relates to the mortuary cults of the nobles. All of the scenes of manufacture and food production discussed above can be linked in some way to the funerary cult of the deceased person, as each of the items produced can be shown to have a function within the context of the funerary meal and/or the burial equipment of the noble. For example, cloth shown being woven in a tomb painting would be magically destined for the cult, to be used in wrapping the mummy, or to be placed within the tomb as part of the burial equipment. Wine, which is often shown being made and stored, would have been offered to the deceased noble at his funerary and daily cult meals. In many cases, the tomb owner is shown supervising such manufacturing activities, or being presented with the resultant materials.
One of the most important religious celebrations depicted in tomb chapels of the Middle Kingdom is the funerary meal. In scenes representing this ritual, the tomb owner (always male in these cases), often accompanied by his wife, sits at a table heaped with food and drink, while processions of offering bearers bring additional items to add to the feast or objects to include with the burial equipment. As in the scenes of manufacture and food production, the individual items of food and equipment are shown in some detail and are often quite specifically identifiable. Priests, including the eldest son of the tomb owner, perform rituals designed to insure the effective worship of the deceased. For example, libations are poured and sacrificial animals are slaughtered. By depicting such offerings and rites, the deceased nobles were guaranteed that they would be supplied with the necessary nourishment and ritual attention that they needed for eternity.
Other aspects of the celebration of the mortuary cult are also represented in these tombs. For example, processions involving the transport of statues and their associated rites of dancing and singing are portrayed, and Hathoric celebrations are shown. Pilgrimages to holy sites such as Abydos, often involving the mummy of the deceased, are depicted. The original purpose of such scenes was to insure magically that the appropriate rites were carried out properly, but they can now be read as elaborate manuals which tell us how to bury an ancient Egyptian properly.
There is another very prominent category of scenes which show the tomb owner hunting in the desert or fishing and fowling in the marshes. These depictions cannot be easily explained. They are often described as portrayals of sporting events that the noble enjoyed during his lifetime and wished to repeat for eternity. However, many aspects of these scenes suggest that their importance lay in the the realm of ritual and myth; they serve primarily to identify the noble with the king as the repeller of the forces of chaos. It is significant that such scenes appear first in the royal repertoire, and then are found in non-royal contexts.
Each of the scenes within a particular tomb chapel, in addition to its individual meaning, can be seen in the context of the chapel as a coherent entity. The individual tomb chapels can, like later temples, be read on several levels as miniature models of the Egyptian cosmos. This can be demonstrated in the 12th Dynasty tomb of Khnumhotep II at Beni Hasan (Tomb 3), in which this concept is brought to fruition. Each of the scenes within Khnumhotep II’s chapel can be interpreted on a number of different levels, and then analyzed in the context of the chapel as a whole.
In this particular tomb, the decoration can be shown to function on three levels, each correlating with a different but interrelated cosmos. On one level, the scenes tell of Khnumhotep II’s lifef on earth, his funeral and his life in the hereafter within his own personal cosmos, in which he functions and is worshipped as a god. This same narrative can be read again as the life cycle of Egypt, complete with all the features of the Egyptian landscape and all the seasons of the Egyptian year. At this level, Khnumhotep II acts as the king within the royal cosmos. The third level illustrates the life of the larger cosmos, complete with a reiterated cosmogony, wherein Khnumhotep II embodies the sun god and therefore the god of creation.
The decoration of Middle Kingdom private tombs provides us with information about many aspects of the daily life of the average Egyptian, and we see the environment in which they lived in some detail. Our knowledge of religious beliefs of the ancient Egyptian elite, especially as they relate to private mortuary cults, is greatly enhanced by these illustrations. Finally, we can ascertain a great deal about the overall culture and social structure of the Middle Kingdom, and the ways in which the deceased noble and his mortuary monument functioned within the Egyptian cosmos.
Representational evidence, New Kingdom private tombs
Representations in New Kingdom private tombs can be divided into four basic types: (1) illustrations of religious ritual, including representations of rulers and the gods, certain ritual architectural features of the tomb such as the false door, and the ceremonies at the entombment; (2) representations of activities in which the deceased took part or supervised or for which he was responsible; (3) representations of activities for the benefit of the spirit of the deceased in the next life; and (4) representations of activities of a pleasing nature intended for the enjoyment of the deceased in eternity. The knowledge to be gleaned from these varied types of representations provides us with considerable information which might not otherwise be preserved about ritual and daily life.
Illustrations of religious ritual provide us with information on the worship of the gods and deified rulers, participation in festivals, the funeral process, the procession to the tomb, the types of objects considered necessary to furnish the tomb and the ritual of the funerary banquet with family, retainers and entertainment. The procession of the mummy and the funerary accessories to the tomb is often illustrated; the mummy is shown on its bier and sled being transported to the tomb, then standing upright at the entrance to the tomb, lustrated and incensed, culminating with a depiction of the ritual of the "Opening of the Mouth" which enabled the faculties of the spirit to function in the next life, performed at the door of the tomb as the last act before interment.
Observations such as the makeup of the funerary procession, with all of its participants enumerated, or the inclusion of the mourners who greet and interrupt the funeral procession, give us a vivid picture of the process. The funerary banquet, with family members and friends or associates, is usually represented in some detail. Attendants serve food and drink and minister to the needs of the guests. Music and dance are an integral part of the celebration, with detailed representations of dancers, musicians and their musical instruments. The representation of the tomb fagade gives us additional information about tomb architecture, often illustrating details of architectural decoration (pyramidion above the entrance, rows of funerary cones set into the fagade) otherwise badly preserved or lost.
An additional type of representation associated with the funerary rite is the depiction of the two-part ritual voyage of the deceased to and from Abydos. This pilgrimage to the ancient cult center of the god Osiris was a pious act believed necessary for the protection and reward of the spirit. The inclusion of this scene has not only added to our knowledge of the importance of this religious belief, but also incidentally provided information on boat construction, rigging and boat management. The reigning king and his queen, and on occasion deified rulers, may be represented. In some instances the deceased is shown receiving decorations or awards from the hands of his ruler. Deified rulers are also represented as a part of the pious activity of the deceased or as part of his official duties in the service of a cult or of a particular temple.
The activities supervised by the tomb owner in life which were represented in the tomb are as varied and diverse as position and responsibilities entailed. An excellent example of this variety is exhibited in the tomb of Rekhmire of Thebes. Rekhmire held the rank of Vizier and was also Mayor of Thebes. His official duties included receiving tribute offered to the king by foreign emissaries and the overseeing of a wide variety of royal and temple workshops. The illustrations of the procession of foreigners from Africa to the south, western Asia and the islands of the Aegean carry with them a great deal of visual information about exotic peoples (Africans, Asiatics, Aegean islanders), animals (bears, giraffes, elephant, monkeys, baboons) and desirable and imported commodities (ostrich feathers, ivory, ebony, gold). The representations of workshop activities contain considerable detail about handicrafts and manufacturing techniques (brick making, furniture crafting, rope twisting, metal smelting and casting, jewelry craftsmanship, leather work and so on). The representation of the production of sculpture in its various forms provides a virtual inventory of sculptural types, many of which can be associated with actual examples.
In many tombs the complete agricultural cycle is shown from the breaking of the ground to the harvesting and processing of the foodstuffs; the process of viticulture from the picking of grapes to the bottling (potting) and labeling of the vintage; animal husbandry from the birth of the calf to the butchering of the mature animal. The significance of such representations on tomb walls may be twofold. They certainly provided tangible representation of the activities in which the tomb owner may have participated and which may have been intended for the benefit of the spirit in the life to come. They also represented the cycle of life through the depiction of seasonal activities: sowing, reaping, processing of foodstuffs or the life of animals from birth to death. The cyclical nature of these representations is considered by some scholars to be the most important reason for their inclusion in the tomb in that they would magically ensure the continuation of life for the spirit of the deceased by ensuring his participation in the unfolding of the seasons.
The deceased is also represented in activities which are clearly intended to provide amusement and diversion in the next life. A dual depiction of the tomb owner, often accompanied by wife and children, in the act of hunting birds in a papyrus thicket and spearing fish in its waters, is a standard element in tombs from the Old Kingdom onward. This representation becomes elaborated with considerable attention to the incidental details of the milieu and the wildlife during the 18th Dynasty. That this standard piece of tomb iconography was meant to provide comfort for the deceased is certainly suggested by a labeling text which indicates that the deceased is "taking recreation and seeing what is good in the place of eternity." The sporting nature of the activity is suggested as the deceased is depicted using a throwing stick to hunt birds and a harpoon for spearing fish, since the more productive techniques for each activity involve various kinds of nets and traps. A comparable activity involving the deceased is depicted in "the hunt in the desert" where a wide variety of wild life is pursued, usually with bow and arrow, in a landscape suggesting wilderness at the desert’s edge and in the foothills bordering the Nile. Hare, ostrich, jackal and various horned animals such as the ibex and gazelle are included, giving us some idea of the indigenous wildlife available for this sport.
In contrast to the paintings of the 18th Dynasty, in the Ramesside period (19th-20th Dynasties) there is considerably more emphasis on representations of the deceased carrying out ritual activities in the "Land of the Blessed" (plowing, sowing and reaping, drinking from the blessed waters of life). These are of a much more stylized nature and are treated with less attention to detail than scenes of "daily life" and ordinary activities.
Representational evidence, New Kingdom royal tombs
Beginning with Tuthmose I, it became the custom to inter the bodies of the deceased New Kingdom kings in complex tombs cut into the rock cliffs on the west bank of the Nile. The symbolic representations carved and painted on the walls and ceilings of the royal tombs of this period were created to magically provide for the guidance, protection and sustenance of the spirit of the ruler after death. In contrast, the painted and carved representations in non-royal tombs have as their main content the depictions of scenes associated with the duties of the deceased during life and the funerary procedures after death. The royal representations include five major themes: (1) the major religious texts current in the New Kingdom; (2) representations of the dead king in the company of the gods; (3) the judgment of the dead king after death; (4) representations of offerings and tomb equipment for the use of the spirit of the king; and (5) astrological representations of the sky, stars and constellations.
The representations of religious texts, such as The Litany of Re, The Book of Gates, The Book of Caverns, The Book of What is in the Underworld and The Books of Night and Day, give us an insight into the concerns of the monarch for his spirit after death. They illustrate the tests and trials, the obstacles and barriers to be met on the journey into the "Land of the Blessed." A considerable portion of such illustrations depict the voyage of the sun god through the day and night sky, protected by a wide variety of deities and often accompanied by the spirit of the king. The religious texts which form the basis for these designs evolved in the New Kingdom and are most thoroughly developed by the Ramesside period (19th and 20th Dynasties).
Images of the dead king in the company of the gods are common in New Kingdom royal tombs. The king is shown offering to the gods or simply in their company, embraced by or embracing them and being nurtured and "given life" by them. Osiris as god of the dead is prominent, as are Isis and Nephthys, in their roles as protectors of the dead. Anubis as the god of the mortuary establishment and the necropolis is also often shown with the king, but other gods and goddesses are depicted in the role of familiar of the king as well.
Though not as frequently encountered in royal tombs as the other descriptions of what is to be expected in the next life, the scene of the "weighing of the heart" with attendant deities occurs in some tombs, beginning with the tomb of Horemheb, at the start of the 19th Dynasty.
Representations of offerings and tomb equipment include depictions of statues, furniture, tools and weapons as well as storage vessels and boxes. Astrological representations of stars and constellations primarily show the night sky through which the sun god and the deceased must pass.
During the 18th Dynasty, the range of religious texts and attendant illustrations were somewhat limited, generally restricted to The Book of Gates, The Book of What is in the Underworld and The Litany of Re as well as depictions of gods and the king in the company of gods. The small tomb of Tutankhamen was something of an exception in that it also includes paintings of the funeral procession and the "Opening of the Mouth" ritual.
With Seti I at the beginning of the 19th Dynasty, the increased size and complexity of the tombs is accompanied by an expanded range of texts and illustrations.
The principal representations encountered in the royal tombs are: maps and diagrams of the route taken by the sun god in his boat; the doors and attendant door keepers who must be satisfied or placated; images of deities, including many that are obscure or grotesque; ritual scenes such as the weighing of the heart; depictions of provisions for the deceased; and diagrams or maps of the sky. The predominant theme is the victory of the sun god over the spirit of chaos, with the attendant advantages for the spirit of the deceased king. Obstacles overcome and trials endured, he would accompany Re through the endless cycle of day and night, of birth and rebirth, throughout eternity. Equipped with the correct responses and guides to the proper ritual, he would overcome obstacles and gain admittance to the realms of the blessed. Thus, these representations are concerned with the process of becoming one with the gods and participating in the cycle of rebirth.
Representational evidence, New Kingdom temples
The relief decoration of New Kingdom temples can be divided broadly into two phases: (1) the 17th and 18th Dynasties up to the reign of Amenhotep III, and (2) Akhenaten’s reign through the Ramesside rulers. Earlier stone temples were decorated mostly with scenes of religious ritual concerned with the deities, cults and rituals celebrated in the temples. Scenes were included from the daily cult ritual, from major religious festivals, and from events within a pharaoh’s reign. Some of the earliest representations of the Opet festival are found on blocks originally used for the red quartzite sanctuary built by Queen Hatshepsut for the Amen bark at Karnak, recovered from the filling of Pylon III.
Military victories and annal records often were depicted on pylon towers at temple entrances, such as on Pylons VII and VIII at Karnak. Other records were carved on commemorative stelae in temples, or on obelisks erected in front of temple pylons. The famous "Dream Stela" of Tuthmose IV, in which he dreams of becoming king if he restores the Great Sphinx at Giza, was set between the stone paws of the monument.
More unusual scenes are found in specialized temples connected with the pharaoh. The socalled "Botanical Garden" scenes in the festival hall (Akh-Menu) of Tuthmose III at Karnak depict plants and animals recorded during the king’s seventeen military campaigns in south-west Asia. Scenes of the king’s donations to the temple of Amen at Karnak are depicted on the same wall as his royal annals.
Reliefs in the funerary temple of Queen Hatshepsut were very innovative; besides religious scenes in the temple’s chapels, the earliest known examples of narrative relief were carved on the walls of the temple’s colonnades. Scenes from the queen’s political career are found here, including the earliest attested scenes of divine birth. Important events during her reign are depicted, such as the transport of two giant obelisks by barge from the Aswan quarries to Karnak, and the expedition the queen sent to the land of Punt on the Red Sea. The Punt reliefs show the dispatch of the expedition, its voyage south in the Red Sea, the arrival at Punt and the expedition’s reception there by the "king" of Punt. Scenes of Punt are also depicted, including ones in which the products of Punt, especially incense and incense trees, are obtained and loaded onto Egyptian ships. The return voyage to Egypt includes faithful renderings of the marine life in the Red Sea. Other more fragmentary scenes in Hatshepsut’s temple include her military expeditions against the Kushites in Nubia.
Funerary temples of mid-18th Dynasty are too poorly preserved to indicate what was depicted in their reliefs, but in the main cult temples, religious and offering scenes continue to dominate. A fragment of a red granite shrine of Tuthmose III shows priests carrying the divine bark of Amen, possibly a scene from the Opet festival, in narrative style. The next major evidence comes from Amenhotep III’s reign. Major parts of the Luxor temple were built during this reign and contain reliefs of offerings and rituals; in a suite of rooms on the eastern side are scenes of Amenhotep III’s divine birth in narrative style. Here the god Amen is shown coming to the queen mother in the guise of the king, followed by scenes of the child’s conception, the pregnant queen, the delivery of the divinely conceived child with the Hathor goddesses who pronounce the child’s fate, and the god Khnum fashioning the child and his ka, or soul, on his potter’s wheel.
The second phase of reliefs in New Kingdom temples begins with innovations undertaken during the reign of Akhenaten. In the six temples that he built at Karnak for the god Aten, his (whsfd (jubilee) festival is depicted in narrative style, including processions and festivities in great detail. Akhenaten’s other temples at Karnak and at Tell el-Amarna show narrative style scenes of the royal couple adoring the Aten.
The next example of fully narrative temple relief is of the Opet festival in the processional colonnade of the Luxor temple, which formed the temple’s entrance during Tutankhamen’s reign. The Opet festival, with the procession’s journey downstream from Karnak to Luxor and back, is fully depicted. On the western side of the colonnade, the procession exits from Pylon III of the temple of Karnak, and priests carrying the divine barks of the sun god proceed to the river and embark on barges. Accompanied by dancers, musicians, drummers, and priestly and police escorts, the barges are then towed by boat to Luxor. Next, the divine barks are unloaded from the barges and carried into Luxor, where they are taken to the sanctuaries. Priests and workers are shown preparing offerings of food for the gods, and the pharaoh makes offerings to the gods in their shrines. Reliefs on the eastern wall of the colonnade show the procession’s return to Karnak from Luxor. Many of these scenes replicate earlier ones of Queen Hatshepsut’s. Tutankhamen also commissioned narrative battle reliefs, as Ray Johnson has now demonstrated. In the Luxor temple were scenes of his campaign to Carchemish in Syria, led by Horemheb, who was later to become pharaoh.
During the 19th and 20th Dynasties the narrative relief of the late 18th Dynasty was developed to a new level. Reliefs on the outer walls of the Hypostyle Hall at Karnak enumerate all the major military campaigns of Seti I in full narrative style. On the northern wall is the campaign against the Shasu people (bedouin), through Sinai to the city of Pa-Kanaan along the "Way of Horus," the royal road from Egypt across Sinai to southwest Asia. Forts and wells are depicted, as is a canal separating Sinai from Egypt. Other reliefs here show the Lebanese chiefs felling cedars, and Egyptian attacks on their fortified towns. Prisoners are rounded up and brought to Egypt, where they are presented to the gods of the Theban triad. At the central door is the traditional scene of the king smiting prisoners, with a topographical list of the conquered lands. Seti I’s other military campaigns, against the Amurru in southwest Asia, the Libyans, the Hittites, and the city of Qadesh in western Syria, are depicted on the eastern and western walls. This was the first time that such reliefs were displayed on the outer walls of large cult temples. Seti I’s other major temples, at Abydos and Gurna, both remained unfinished when he died, and many of these reliefs were completed by his son Ramesses II. At Abydos are scenes showing the education of the crown prince, and a series of reliefs about the Osiris drama. Reliefs in chapels of this temple show rituals performed for the divine images. The Gurna funerary temple includes reliefs of Ramesses II’s coronation by Amen before the other Theban deities and a deified Seti I.
Ramesses II carried narrative relief to new heights in his depiction of his battle with the Hittites at Qadesh. At the Luxor temple and the Ramesseum, his mortuary temple across the river at Thebes, scenes of the Battle of Qadesh cover the entire surface of the pylon towers. Even the registers, which were an artistic device to divide scenes, were eliminated. Reliefs of this battle are also found at Abydos and Abu Simbel. Ramesses II continued his father’s tradition of narrative battle scenes with reliefs of his later wars in Syro-Palestine and Jordan. These are found on the outer walls of the Hypostyle Hall at Karnak, exterior walls of the Luxor temple, and interior walls of the first court of the Abydos temple. In the Ramesseum, battle reliefs were continued on interior walls, in the second court, and even on an inner wall of the temple’s hypostyle hall. Ramesses II also made use of other narrative scenes on the walls of his temples. In the First Court of the Luxor temple his sons and daughters are depicted marching toward the temple’s Pylon I. Religious festivals, such as the festival of the god Min, were carved in narrative style, as found on the inner face of the eastern tower of the pylon at Luxor and in the Ramesseum. At Abydos and Karnak Ramesses II is shown subjugating the forces of chaos, symbolized by netted birds.
Merenptah, who followed his father Ramesses II on the throne, continued the tradition of narrative battle scenes with reliefs of his Canaanite campaign in the temple of Karnak on the walls of the transverse axis. But wall space was limited, and his great victory over the Libyans and Sea Peoples is represented only in a text version at Karnak. At Abydos Merenptah decorated a corridor with reliefs of the Osiris myth, including scenes of the sun’s passage through the night and the punishment of Osiris’s foes.
Ramesses III was the last major builder of temples in the New Kingdom, and narrative reliefs of the great naval battle against the Sea Peoples are found in his funerary temple at Medinet Habu. The superb scene of a bull hunt on the rear of the pylon’s south tower represents the culmination of the narrative relief style. The small Karnak temple of Ramesses III contains an interesting scene of a river procession during the Opet festival.
With a decline of temple construction in the Third Intermediate Period, there are only a few examples of post-Ramesside building in Upper Egypt. In the Khonsu temple at Karnak is a fine depiction of the cult center’s Pylon II together with a relief of the Opet festival procession on the river, dating to the reign of Herihor, circa 1,080-1,070 BC. The reliefs of Sheshonk I at Karnak, showing victory over Judea and Israel during Rehoboam’s reign, continue the tradition of the prisoner-smiting scenes accompanied by place names.
The Ramesside kings built sizable temples in the Delta cities, but these were disassembled and moved by the kings of the 21st and 22nd Dynasties to furnish material for later temples at Tanis and Bubastis. These rebuilt temples are now in ruins, but one surviving scene, of the pharaoh Siamen smiting his enemies, demonstrates his victory over Gezer, a Philistine city in Palestine. Other Third Intermediate Period reliefs, such as at the small temple of Amen at Medinet Habu, only contain scenes of religious rituals and offerings. When the Kushite king Piye of the 25 th Dynasty depicted his victory over the kings of Libyan descent ruling in northern Egypt, he chose to do so on a large stela.
The reliefs and inscriptions of the New Kingdom, when stone temples were built on a large scale, are a major source of information about ancient Egypt at this time, from foreign relations to religious cults. While many of the claims of kings in these inscriptions are exaggerated, the reliefs depict an age in which Egypt was a major force controlling an empire beyond the lower Nile Valley. Central to the New Kingdom reliefs is the role of the pharaoh, who was an absolute ruler and god-king at home, and a military commander controlling great resources abroad.
