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ARTH201: New Kingdom (c.1550-1070 BCE) and Later Egyptian Temples
I. Basic Layout, Symbolism, and Function
All later Egyptian temples share the same basic layout seen in the diagram of the
Temple of Amun-Re at Karnak below. This layout first emerged during the New
Kingdom, and can be seen in both cult temples, or “mansions of the gods,” where
ancient Egyptians worshipped their deities, and mortuary temples, or “mansions of
millions of years,” where ancient Egyptians worshipped deified pharaohs.
Diagram showing the plan of the Temple of Amun-Re, Karnak. The main temple axis runs from
the Nile Quay, through the First Pylon, into the Outer Courtyard (Great Court), through the
Second Pylon, into the Great Hypostyle Hall, through the Third and Fourth Pylons and into the
Inner Sanctuary.
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The standard Egyptian temple plan was laid out symmetrically, along a single
axis, and was composed of three main parts: an outer court, a hypostyle hall, and a
sanctuary. Larger temples often included multiple outer courts, hypostyle halls, and
auxiliary rooms. Many temples also included a pylon or large gateway that served as
the entrance to the temple’s courtyard. Ideally, these elements would be organized
along an east-west axis, and the temple would face the Nile, but sometimes this
orientation was abandoned for topographical or other reasons. The temple precinct was
surrounded by thick mud-brick walls that symbolically separated the sacred and profane
worlds and served a defensive function as well. Of course, some temples featured
variations on this basic plan, especially private mortuary temples designed to serve
functions different from those of the cult temple complexes.
The overall structure of the Egyptian temple was intended to represent the
universe at the time of creation and was designed to facilitate the procession of the god
during annual festivals. According to Egyptian mythology, the world emerged as a
primeval mound out of a watery abyss, the model for which was clearly the annual
inundation of the Nile. The sanctuary was always the highest point of the Egyptian
temple because it was supposed to represent this primeval mound. The columns of its
hypostyle halls were accordingly decorated with lotuses and other plants found in the
marshes that would have surrounded the primeval mound. As the floor of the temple
gradually sloped upward, the ceiling also simultaneously sloped downward, such that
one would move from the brightly lit, open courtyard into the dark, sacred sanctuary of
the god.
In the Egyptian creation myth, the creator god lived in a reed hut atop the
primeval mound. The massive stone structure of the Egyptian temple preserved this
most basic form and function, as it was primarily designed to be the residence of the
god, where he/she could be fed, clothed, and cared for. Egyptian temples were
modeled on the Egyptian household, often including kitchens, dining rooms, and store
houses. During its annual festival, the god would leave the temple, symbolically
reenacting life’s emergence from the watery abyss of creation. The god would then be
carried on a sacred boat on the back of priest through a crowd of worshippers.
The Opet Festival was one of the most important annual festivals during the New
Kingdom. During this festival, the statues of Amun-Re, Khonsu, and Mut were carried in
a procession from the Temple of Amun-Re in Karnak to the Temple of Luxor in order to
reenact Amun-Re and Mut’s marriage. The barque of the gods was accompanied by a
royal barque that would reenact the coronation ceremony of the king and other rituals
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that would confirm the pharaoh’s right to kingship.
Ram-headed sphinxes leading into the Temple of Amun-Re at Karnak.
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Monuments and statues lined the processional path. In the case of the Opet
Festival, the nearly two mile long processional route is thought to have been lined by
sphinxes. Barque shrines, our structures designed to accommodate the gods and
priests when they needed to rest, also appeared at regular intervals along the route.
One of the most famous barque shrines was the Chapelle Rouge (Red Chapel),
constructed by Hatshepsut at the center of the Great Temple of Amun-Re at Karnak.
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The Chapelle Rouge as reconstructed in the Open Air Museum in Karnak.
Terms of Use: The image above is licensed under a Creative Commons AttributionNonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 Generic License. It is attributed to Paul James Cowie.
The original version can be found here.
II. Individual Architectural Components
The overall structure of New Kingdom and later Egyptian temples can be broken
into the following architectural components, starting from the gate of the temple and
moving through increasingly sacred zones:
A. Pylon
First Pylon at Philae, Ptolemaic Period (332-30 BCE).
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Wikimedia user Rémih. The original version can be found here.
Pylons are pairs of large rectangular towers that flank a central lower gateway
and serve as the entranceway to the temple. As temple complexes expanded, certain
pylons became part of the interior of the temple proper. Pylons served defensive and
symbolic functions: like the mud-brick walls that surrounded the temple precinct, they
protected the complex from war and served to demarcate between sacred and profane
space. They were frequently decorated with reliefs that depict a larger-than-life
Egyptian king smiting his enemies. The overall structure of the pylon also symbolized
the rising sun and formed the hierogplyph akhet or “horizon.” Winged sun discs were
therefore often carved above the doorway, while a stairs leading to the top of the
gateway were built so that pharaohs could present themselves during ceremonials and
festivals as the rising sun.
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B. Obelisks
Obelisks at Karnak.
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attributed to Wikimedia user Merlin-UK. The original version can be found here.
Obelisks (tekhen) were often erected in pairs near the entrance of temples or in
other areas to separate one part from another. Obelisks are tall, narrow, tapering foursided monoliths that end with a pyramid-shaped top. Their sides are typically decorated
with reliefs and inscriptions commemorating the important events in a pharaoh’s reign.
C. The Outer Courtyard
Peristyle Courtyard of the Temple of Horus at Edfu, Ptolemaic Period (332-30 BCE).
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Unported license. It is attributed to Olaf Tausch. The original version can be found here.
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Just beyond the pylon, one encounters a large open courtyard that was often
used for the assembly of large groups. Only the king, high-ranking officials, priests, and
representatives of the people could enter this area. Most outer courtyards in Egyptian
temples were peristyle courtyards, with colonnades running along their perimeter. Here,
priests performed purification rituals so that they and the king could enter the temple
proper. Altars featuring burnt offerings or animal sacrifices were often set off to the side
of the main axis. Royal statues were frequently placed between the columns on the
surrounding colonnade and reliefs on the walls often depicted the pharaoh defeating his
enemies or relating to the gods. Private statues were also placed in the courtyard.
D. Hypostyle Hall
The Great Hypostyle Hall of the Temple of Amun-Re, Karnak.
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by the copyright holder Jon Bodsworth. The original version can be found here.
Moving further into the temple, one encounters the hypostyle hall, which was
sometimes separated from the outer courtyard by a pylon. The hypostyle hall was an
area on the temple’s main axis that spanned the width of the courtyard. Only purified
priests and the king could access it, entering via the main entrance (a door on the same
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axis). The interior was densely filled with columns. The distance between these
columns was less than the thickness of each individual column—proportions
established during the Old Kingdom (c.2650-2150BCE) and originally designed to
support the weight of the ceiling. The columns of the hypostyle hall symbolized the
columns that supported the heavens in Egyptian cosmology and the marshes that
surrounded the primeval mound of creation.
E. Sanctuary
Sanctuary of the Temple of Isis, Philae, Ptolemaic Period (332-30 BCE).
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version can be found here.
Lying at the end of the temple’s main axis through a set of double doors was the
most sacred part of the temple: the sanctuary, a small room that only the king and high
priest could enter. In larger temples, the sanctuary was separated from the hypostyle
hall by additional halls or chambers like the offering hall, where sacrifices to the god
were made. In smaller temples, the altar was placed inside the inner sanctuary. In the
sanctuary itself, the statue of the god was often housed within a shrine. In accordance
with the overall symbolism of the temple, the structure of the sanctuary was based on a
simple reed hut whose walls were decorated with reliefs illustrating cult practices. The
main image representing the god was usually made of silver, gold, gilded wood, or
stone, its eyes were made of precious stones, and its hair was made of lapus lazuli.
Shrines to secondary deities or for the god’s barque would be set to the side of the main
sanctuary.
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Some temples dating to the New Kingdom and later also include a “Chapel of the
Hearing Ear” that allowed those who had not been purified (including the common
people) indirect access to the inner sanctuary either through a structure as simple as a
niche or as large as a chapel. Here, people could address their prayers to an image of
the deity or through “priest holes,” where a priest could listen and/or deliver oracles.
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