The Temple

Summarize the function of temples and discuss the separation of temples from tombs after the Old Kingdom in response to the tombs' functional failures. Do this for Hatshepsut's Temple and the Temple of Amun-Re.

 

 

    The function of temples in a quick summary is a place to where someone can come and worship their god. What we find in the New Kingdom in comparison to the Old kingdom is a reverse relationship between the tomb and the temple. In the Old Kingdom it was all about having a huge tomb which was the Great Pyramids and then having a way smaller temple. This way of doing things changed when the New Kingdom entered. An example of this would be Hatshepsut's Temple in which the temple that was dedicated to her was enormous in comparison to her actual burial place. The tombs came under their functional failure as a result of the crisis period between the Old Kingdom era and the New Kingdom. During this time Egypt was not united under a central government and there was a lot of revolution. Because of this there were grave robbers that tried to steal from the ancient tombs of the pharaohs and also the temples were under theft because of the decrease of power by the state. Overall there was a lack of reverence for the gods of Egypt and the pharaohs.

   Hatshepsut’s temple was looked down upon because she was in fact a woman and actually they never found her mummy. Whenever she died her successor sought to eliminate all traces of her rule by seeking to destroy all the statues and other monuments made unto her.

   The Temple of Amun-Re is referred to as “the house of Amun”. There was a statue of Amun in the Temple and the priest would come each day to give drink, food, and even bath the statue of the god because they believed that the statue was the embodiment of Amun of earth and so they sought to really take care of the temple. The temple was made in Thebes the religious and power center for Egypt.