The Temple of Amada, is one of the oldest

Egyptian Temples Egyptian temples were built for the official worship of the ancient Egyptian deities, gods and in commemoration of the pharaohs in ancient Egypt and regions under Egyptian control. Temples were seen as houses for the gods or kings to whom they w ...

Nubia Nubia (, Nobiin language, Nobiin: , ) is a region along the Nile river encompassing the area between the confluence of the Blue Nile, Blue and White Nile, White Niles (in Khartoum in central Sudan), and the Cataracts of the Nile, first cataract ...

. It was constructed during the 18th Dynasty (c. 1550–1295 BC) by Pharaoh

Thutmose III Thutmose III (variously also spelt Tuthmosis or Thothmes), sometimes called Thutmose the Great, (1479–1425 BC) was the fifth pharaoh of the 18th Dynasty of Egypt. He is regarded as one of the greatest warriors, military commanders, and milita ...

. It is one of the oldest Egyptian buildings still present along Lake Nasser. In total, three generations contributed to building the temple (Thutmose III, Amenhotep II, and Thutmose IV). Minor modifications continued into the 19th Dynasty (1295–1186 BC). The temple was dedicated to

Amun-Ra Amun was a major ancient Egyptian deity who appears as a member of the Hermopolitan Ogdoad. Amun was attested from the Old Kingdom together with his wife Amunet. His oracle in Siwa Oasis, located in Western Egypt near the Libyan Desert, rema ...

and Horakhty-Ra. During the Amarna period,

Akhenaten Akhenaten (pronounced ), also spelled Akhenaton or Echnaton ( ''ʾŪḫə-nə-yātəy'', , meaning 'Effective for the Aten'), was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh reigning or 1351–1334 BC, the tenth ruler of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt, Eig ...

had the name Amun destroyed throughout the temple but this was later restored by

Seti I Menmaatre Seti I (or Sethos I in Greek language, Greek) was the second pharaoh of the Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt during the New Kingdom of Egypt, New Kingdom period, ruling or 1290 BC to 1279 BC. He was the son of Ramesses I and Sitre, and th ...

of Egypt's 19th Dynasty.Oakes, p.205 Various 19th Dynasty pharaohs, especially Seti I and

Ramesses II Ramesses II (sometimes written Ramses or Rameses) (; , , ; ), commonly known as Ramesses the Great, was an Pharaoh, Egyptian pharaoh. He was the third ruler of the Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt, Nineteenth Dynasty. Along with Thutmose III of th ...

, also "carried out minor restorations and added to the temple's decoration." The

stela A stele ( ) or stela ( )The plural in English is sometimes stelai ( ) based on direct transliteration of the Greek, sometimes stelae or stelæ ( ) based on the inflection of Greek nouns in Latin, and sometimes anglicized to steles ( ) or stela ...

s of the Viceroys of Kush

Setau Setau was the Viceroy of Kush in the second half of Ramesses II's reign. Contemporary records show that Setau served in this position from Year 38 until at least Year 63 of Ramesses II's reign. Setau was "a graduate of the royal school" and alread ...

, Heqanakht and Messuy and that of

Chancellor Bay Bay, also called Ramesse Khamenteru (died 1192 BC), was an important Asiatic official in ancient Egypt, who rose to prominence and high office under Seti II Userkheperure Setepenre and later became an influential powerbroker in the closing stages ...

describe their building activities under Ramesses II,

Merneptah Merneptah () or Merenptah (reigned July or August 1213–2 May 1203 BCE) was the fourth pharaoh of the Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt, Nineteenth Dynasty of Ancient Egypt. According to contemporary historical records, he ruled Egypt for almost ten y ...

and

Siptah Akhenre Setepenre Siptah or Merneptah Siptah was the penultimate ruler of the Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt. His father's identity is currently unknown. Both Seti II and Amenmesse have been suggested although the fact that Siptah later changed hi ...

respectively. In the medieval period the temple was converted into a church. As part of the

International Campaign to Save the Monuments of Nubia The International Campaign to Save the Monuments of Nubia was the effort to relocate 22 monuments in Lower Nubia, in Southern Egypt and northern Sudan, between 1960 and 1980. This was done in order to make way for the building of the Aswan Dam, a ...

, along with

Abu Simbel Abu Simbel is a historic site comprising two massive Rock-cut architecture, rock-cut Egyptian temple, temples in the village of Abu Simbel (village), Abu Simbel (), Aswan Governorate, Upper Egypt, near the border with Sudan. It is located on t ...

Philae The Philae temple complex (; , , Egyptian: ''p3-jw-rķ' or 'pA-jw-rq''; , ) is an island-based temple complex in the reservoir of the Aswan Low Dam, downstream of the Aswan Dam and Lake Nasser, Egypt. Originally, the temple complex was ...

and other Nubian archaeological sites, Amada was relocated in the 1960s and inscribed on the

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

World Heritage List World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural heritag ...

in 1979. Over the years, the Amada Temple has undergone extensive restoration and preservation efforts to protect its invaluable heritage.

Temple interior

The original building plan for the structure featured a pylon, forecourt and a portico which led to a sanctuary.Oakes, p.204 However, when Thutmose IV put a roof over the open forecourt, the pillars and walls "were decorated with offering scenes, with those involving Thutmosis IV on the left" and Thutmose III and Amenhotep II on the right.Oakes, p.204 The temple's decoration shows the king in temple ritual and in the company of a wide variety of deities. The reliefs and inscriptions within temple are extremely well preserved due to a layer of plaster covering them when the temple was converted into a church. Still visible today are inscriptions relating to the military exploits by Merenptah, the fourth pharaoh of the Nineteenth Dynasty, and Amenhotep II, the seventh pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty . The finest painted reliefs are in the innermost section of the temple where Thutmose III and Amenhotep II are shown being embraced or making offerings to various Egyptian gods.Oakes, p.204 The left hand side of the vestibule shows Amenhotep II being crowned by Horus and Thoth and running with an oar and a ''hap'' (or navigational instrument). The cult room at the side of the sanctuary contains some interesting foundation and consecration scenes for the temple which depict "the ritual of the 'stretching of the cord', the ceremonial making and laying of bricks, and the offering of the temple to its gods." Although the temple has a dull and crumbling exterior, its interior features some of the most finely cut reliefs with bright and vibrant colors.

Historical records

There are two important historical inscriptions from Amada temple. The earliest, dated to Year 3 of Amenhotep II, "is on a round topped stelae at the rear (eastern) wall of the sanctuary."Baines & Málek, p.182 Its text describes this pharaoh's ruthless military campaign in Asia: Amenhotep II goes on to describe how he hanged six of the dead chiefs "on the walls of Thebes" while the seventh was hung on the walls of

Napata Napata
(2020). (Old Egyptian ''Npt'', ''Npy''; Meroitic language, Meroitic ''Napa''; and Ναπάται) was a city of ...

(a Nubian frontier city near the

Fourth Cataract The Cataracts of the Nile are shallow lengths (or whitewater rapids) of the Nile river, between Khartoum and Aswan, where the surface of the water is broken by many small boulders and stones jutting out of the river bed, as well as many rocky ...

). This was done as a clear warning to the subject Nubians of the dangerous consequences of rebellion during Amenhotep's reign. The second historical text, "on a stela engraved on the left (northern) thickness of the entrance doorway" mentions the defeat of an invasion from Libya in Year 4 of Merneptah.Baines & Málek, p.182 The temple was described by early travellers and first published by Henri Gauthier in 1913.

Church

The temple was converted into a church presumably in the 6th century. The Christians plastered the hieroglyphs with Christian paintings that survived until the 19th century.

Frederic Louis Norden Frederic Louis Norden (22 October 1708 – 22 September 1742) was a Danish naval captain, cartographer, and archaeological explorer. Also known as ''Frederick'', ''Frederik'', ''Friderick'', ''Ludwig'', ''Ludvig'' and ''Lewis'', names used ...

described them as early 1738 as depicting "the Trinity, the apostles, and divers (sic.) other saints".

Franz Christian Gau Franz Christian Gau (15 June 1790, in Cologne – January 1854, in Paris) was a French architect and archaeologist of German descent. In 1809 he entered the Académie des Beaux-Arts, Paris, and in 1815 visited Italy and Sicily. In 1817 he went t ...

painted what remained of them in 1822. Already a few years later, in 1830,

Jean-Jacques Rifaud Jean-Jacques is a French name, equivalent to "John James" in English. Since the second half of 18th century, Jean Jacques Rousseau was widely known as Jean Jacques. Notable people bearing this name include: Given name * Jean-Jacques Annaud (born 19 ...

and

Johann Matthias Neurohr Johann, typically a male given name, is the German form of ''Iohannes'', which is the Latin form of the Greek name ''Iōánnēs'' (), itself derived from Hebrew name '' Yochanan'' () in turn from its extended form (), meaning "Yahweh is Gracious" ...

proposed to tear the Christian paintings down to access the ancient Egyptian art beneath. They were destroyed soon after.

Relocation

Between 1964 and 1975, the temple was moved from its original location to a new site "some 65 m higher and 2.5 km away from its original site". Chopping it into blocks, as was being done with the other temples, was not an option; the paintings would not have survived. Seeing that all seemed resigned to see the temple flooded by the silty waters of Lake Nasser,

Christiane Desroches Noblecourt Christiane Desroches Noblecourt (; 17 November 1913 – 23 June 2011) was a French Egyptologist. She was the author of many books on Art of Ancient Egypt, Egyptian art and History of Egypt, history and was also known for her role in the Inte ...

announced that France would save it. She asked two architects to propose a method for moving the temple in one piece. Their idea was to put the temple on rails and transport it hydraulically to a site a few kilometers away that was more than 60 meters higher. The rock-cut

Temple of Derr The Temple of Derr or el-Derr is a ''speos'' or rock-cut Egyptian temple, now located in New Amada in Lower Nubia. It was built during the 19th dynasty by Pharaoh Ramesses II. It is the only rock-cut temple in Nubia, which was constructed by thi ...

was also moved to the new site of Amada.Christine Hobson, Exploring the World of the Pharaohs: A complete guide to Ancient Egypt, Thames & Hudson 1993 paperback, p.177

Gallery

File:Amada temple-church, 1822.png, The Amada temple in 1822. At this date there still existed the early medieval dome which was built when the temple was converted into a church. File:Amada Temple by Dennis G. Jarvis.jpg, The interior of Amada temple File:Amada temple Christian paintings.png, Remains of painted Christian saints plastered over the ancient reliefs. File:S03 06 01 018 image 2409.jpg, Egypt - Temple of Amada, Nubia. Brooklyn Museum Archives, Goodyear Archival Collection File:Amada ( 110 miles south of Aswan, left bank ). Temple founded by Tuthmosis III.jpg, Inscriptions on this pillar in the hypostyle hall concern the lord of the Island of Biggeh. File:Amada - Temple founded by Tuthmosis III end Amenophis II of the XVIIIth dynasty.jpg, Exterior view File:Amada - interior detail of Thutmose III with natural spotlight.jpg, Interior detail depicting Amenhotep II with natural spotlight

References