- Time needed
- About 1.5 hours
- Heat exposure
- High
- Shade
- Medium
- Stairs
- Few on the main route through the temple. The upper rooms of the gatehouse are reached by a stair
The complex combines a monumental gateway, courts, columned halls and inner sanctuaries within substantial enclosure walls. Later buildings and occupation changed how parts of it were used. Its survival reflects this long history as well as the original construction and modern conservation.
- 1Colour survives exactly where the roof did
The roofed areas and the shaded, deep-cut reliefs — look up under the surviving ceilings
- 2A sea battle, on the outside of the north wall
The exterior of the temple’s north wall — walk round the outside rather than through the courts
- 3A gatehouse built to look like a frontier fort
The tall stone gate you pass through on the way in, at the east side of the enclosure
- 4Carving deep enough to read from a distance
The first pylon (a monumental gateway formed by two massive towers) and the outer faces of the temple walls
1Colour survives exactly where the roof did
Medinet Habu keeps more original pigment than almost anywhere else in Thebes — and it is not evenly spread. Look up under the surviving ceilings and into the deep-cut reliefs. Three thousand years of sun did the rest.
2A sea battle, on the outside of the north wall
Egyptian ships with lion-headed prows among enemy ships with duck-headed prows, boats capsized, men falling into the water, archers shooting from the shore, and rows of bound prisoners in feathered headdresses being counted in front of the king.
Fact — the reliefs, their subject and their date. Uncertain — who the Sea Peoples actually were, where they came from, and how much of the account is accurate.
3A gatehouse built to look like a frontier fort
A high tower gate with battered, sloping walls and windows in its upper storeys, built on the model of the fortified gates of Egypt’s Asiatic empire. The upper rooms were decorated with the king among the women of the household rather than with gods.
Fact — the gate, its form and its decoration. Interpretation — that the military form was chosen for what it said rather than for what it could do.
4Carving deep enough to read from a distance
The figures are sunk so far into the sandstone that the strokes are wide enough to put a hand into, and the edges hold a hard shadow from morning to evening.
Fact — the depth of the carving and how it weathers. Interpretation — the intent behind choosing it.
Broadly level through the courts, with worn ancient paving, sand and raised thresholds between them; the ground outside the north wall is rougher Few on the main route through the temple. The upper rooms of the gatehouse are reached by a stair
Visit mode keeps the sequence, the details and the facilities. The history, the figures and the related reading are in plan mode.