Ramesses III's memorial temple, with the great reliefs of his war against the Sea Peoples.
Where
The southern end of the west bank of Thebes
When
Ramesses III (c. 1184–1153 BC); a smaller temple from the 18th Dynasty
Built by
Ramesses III, modeled on the Ramesseum
Famous for
The Sea Peoples reliefs; the fortified gate; its bright paint
Who built what
Ramesses III built his memorial temple on the plan of Ramesses II's Ramesseum and surrounded it with a massive mud-brick wall entered through a stone gatehouse shaped like a Near Eastern fortress. Beside it was a palace for the king's visits. Inside the wall stands an older, smaller temple of Amun begun by Hatshepsut and Thutmose III.
On the outer north wall, the reliefs of the king's eighth year show battles against the Sea Peoples on land and at sea, the first sea battle shown in art. Where these peoples came from is still debated.
What survives
Medinet Habu is one of the best preserved temples in Egypt, and much of its paint survives on the inner walls. At the end of the New Kingdom the people of western Thebes moved inside its walls for safety, and the town of Djeme grew up there, lasting into Christian times.
Since 1924 the Epigraphic Survey of the University of Chicago has been drawing and publishing every scene and text.
Medinet Habu follows the standard plan: pylon, two courts, hypostyle hall and sanctuary.
Inscriptions
2 short, well-known texts from Medinet Habu, each with its transliteration (the Egyptian sounds in Latin letters) and a translation. Tap Sign by sign to see what each sign is and how it is read. Royal names are drawn in their cartouches.
Usermaatre Meryamun, Ramesses III
Transliteration
wsr-mꜣꜥt-rꜥ mrj-jmn
Translation
“Usermaatre Meryamun ("Strong is the Maat of Ra, beloved of Amun")”
Where: On the pylons, columns and reliefs throughout the temple.
Ramesses III took nearly the same throne name as Ramesses II, his model, and changed only its ending, from "chosen of Ra" to "beloved of Amun". The canal sign writes mr.
Sign by sign
Reading: The standard reading (Gardiner, Egyptian Grammar (3rd ed., 1957), Excursus A on the royal titulary); the Wikipedia article "Ramesses III", which gives this spelling.
His birth name: Ramesses, ruler of Heliopolis
Its arrangement in the cartouche cannot yet be shown faithfully with the site's font, so it is given in transliteration only.
Transliteration
rꜥ-ms-sw ḥqꜣ-jwnw
Translation
“Ramesses, ruler of Heliopolis”
Where: In the second cartouche beside his throne name.
Kings of this time added a title to the birth name in the cartouche to tell themselves apart, since several were called Ramesses.
Reading: The standard reading; the Wikipedia article "Ramesses III".
The Epigraphic Survey, Medinet Habu, vols. I–VIII (Chicago, 1930–1970)
Dates follow Shaw, ed., The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt (2000); before 664 BC they are approximate. Readings are the standard ones in the sources named under each inscription; translations are Teddy Rook Book's own. The hieroglyphs are drawn in the site's font, TRB Hieroglyphs, so their shapes are simplified; where an inscription's arrangement or signs can't be shown faithfully, the card says so.