Medinet Habu and Western Thebes’s Sacred Landscape: Traditional Identity Multifaceted Through Time
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
Spring 4-28-2022
Abstract
Western bank of Modern Luxor is distinguished by its rich ancient monumental remains. Both banks of Ancient Thebes formed the sacred landscape of Amun-Re home city. That ancient landscape carried a traditional heritage which formed its spiritual identity, an identity that was manifested in spaces and constructions. The ancient western bank was an administrational center as well as a great necropolis. The royal temples were constructed near the foot of the Theban Hills, they still mark the western edge of the floodplain of contemporary Western Luxor, those temples linked the divine rulers, the universal god, and the traditional cosmic concepts until the Roman times. When the Coptic transformation took its turn, it transformed the ancient constructions to suit the new national identity, which is Coptic Egypt. But the traditional identity was not lost, and the interaction between Christianity and the sacred landscape was mutual. For understanding the complications of Western Thebes’s changes through time, Medinet Habu complex will be the focus of this paper, it was built by Ramses III and dedicated to Amun-Re and the Ogdoad, the complex was linked ritually with Luxor Temple in Eastern Thebes by ancient festivals, playing an essential role in the traditional cosmic vision. Medinet Habu also served as an administrative, political center, and a fortified site. It provided security during times of unrest. It kept growing until the Ptolemaic dynasties rule, and later, it became a Coptic center known as the Holy Mount of Djeme. The paper is a comprehensive research for the interpretation of the meaning of Habu Complex location, original features, and transformation. The monument story was part of a whole sacred landscape transformation process. The narration timeline covers exploring the ancient cultural features of western Thebes, since the Old Kingdom, and until Late antiquity. The paper is using thematic analysis of the data which was collected from various resources, such as archaeological evidence, ethnographic descriptions, iconographic representations, and Spatial information.
Recommended Citation
Abd El-Lateef, Rasha Said, "Medinet Habu and Western Thebes’s Sacred Landscape: Traditional Identity Multifaceted Through Time" (2022). Environmental Sustainable Architecture. 2.
https://buescholar.bue.edu.eg/environ_sust_arch/2