|
|
Egypt mortuary temples are numerous and
represent important touristic attractions. One of these temples
is the temple of Karnak at Luxor. Today this temple it is the
largest religious structure in the world. This was not the
largest temple of Egypt but the Ptah’s temple in Memphis was.
The temples of Dendera, Karnak and Kom Ombo were religious
temples were the gods were worshiped. The temples like the
Karnak one and the kings` s mortuary temples are very similar.
The both types of temples were built to keep alive the god’s
name or the king name. The temple of Nefertari in Abu Simbel was
dedicated to Hathor but the temple was also built for political
purposes. The temples, together with the temple of Ramesses II (Hathor’s
husband) were also built to remind to the Egypt Southern
neighbors of Egypt’s greatness. The Egypt temples were built for
various purposes; most of them were dedicated to the different
deities, many of them were mortuary temples dedicated to the
dead king where he or she was worshiped. There were also the
monumental gateways that were connected to the mortuary chapel
of the king by a causeway and called valley temples. And another
category is the one of the specialized temples like the ka
temples, the coronation temples, the Sed-festival temples, the
sun temples and so on. The non-mortuary temples had chapels,
vestibules, courtyards, antechambers and offering halls just
like the mortuary temples had. One of the most important
difference between the mortuary temples and the non-mortuary
ones is that the last mentioned used to be added to, usurped or
built upon by different kings. In most of the cases, the Egypt
mortuary temples were much simple than the most of the
non-mortuary temples. |
|
