Orientation of Temples at Thebes (18th -19th Dynasties) Analyzed

koot van wyk (DLitt et Phil; ThD)

Kyungpook National University

Sangju Campus

South Korea

conjoint lecturer for Avondale College

Australia

From the archaeological publications of Luxor we modified this chart to display the orientation of the various temples and their relation to each other as far as the orientation is concerned. It is not exact and many ideas as creative but it nevertheless present us with an option to consider.  Letters (a) and (b) etc. are given to each line drawn in the center of each temple through the most holy, inner court and outer courts across the Nile to other temples at Karnak or Luxor, south of Karnak. Historical detail by Breasted and others as well as biblical realities regarding the life of Moses allows us to make some postulations regarding the orientation.

(a) Temple of Hatshepsut at Der el Baḥri

Hatshepsut was the stepmother of Moses who found him as a young daughter of 6-7 on the Nile. In 1490 BCE, Moses killed the Egyptian and had to flee from Egypt for his life. The temple of Hatshepsut is angled directly and straight into the Temple of Amun or Amon across the Nile at Karnak.

(b) Temple of Thutmosis III

Thutmosis III was the pharaoh of the Exodus and he was very happy when Moses killed the Egyptian in 1490 BCE, since it improved his own status. He was the illegitimate child of Hathsepsut's husband and a street-woman with the name of Iset. Hatshepsut hated the event and hated Thutmosis III. To improve his situation he had to marry the daughter of Hatshepsut. Still, things were not secure and Hatshepsut seemingly favored Moses more, but he was gone. 16 times Thutmosis III went to Palestine (to look also for Moses?) however, his temple does not orientate to Karnak but south of Karnak.  He died in the Red Sea in March of 1450 BCE and his body was never found. The body in his coffin is seemingly that of his oldest son, who died at 12 midnight.

(c) Temple of Amenophis II

The young son of Thutmosis III took the throne the morning of his father's death. The tomb of Thutmosis III was completed in haste and chaos.  Judging from the linen text he wrapped with a message from the book of the Dead around the body of his oldest brother in his father's coffin, he was subconsciously worried about worms that may eat his father since he was not found and balmed(?). The orientation of his temple is to the center of one of the courts at Luxor. Why this orientational shift came, is not sure. His father was a great Amun/Amon worshipper and all scholars are aware of that. In his first 7 years he went to Palestine to campaign there but trouble in Palestine and a case of being almost killed at one time, as one of the Taanach letters explains to us, he gave up on Palestine for the rest of his reign. The Israelites were not there, (if his intention was to revenge the death of his father in the Red Sea?), they were near Sinai in the desert.

(d)(1) Temple of Thutmosis IV

Thutmosis IV was the boy who slept near the sphinx and got a vision from the god to be the next pharaoh. His calling has almost overtones with the earlier calling of Moses, whose books like Genesis, Exodus, Numbers, Leviticus, Deuteronomy and Job were all written by now. Whether they were circulated also in Egypt and whether the palace had a copy of it read by Hebrew-Egyptian translators to the boy-king from time to time by Habiru-teachers, is not sure. 

(d)(1) Temple of Thutmosis IV

Here the orientation of this temple is not sure from the map. We cannot comment much on it except that the orientation is very strange running south. One thing is for sure, the Habiru became a headache to Thutmosis IV at the end of his reign since the entry into Canaan at Jericho occurred during his reign in 1410 BCE. Five years of wars would follow as one can see in that part of the corpus that deals with the five year period of wars. The Amarna letters actually are using five years to indicate the length of the wars. Biblical chronology also indicate that the time that Caleb was looking for his inheritance was around 1405 BCE, which means, a correlation with the Amarna corpus can be made. The Amarna corpus are hear allocated to two sets of texts, earlier war texts and later peace and tranquility texts (weddings, marriages, treaties, gifts etc.).

(e)(1) Temple of Amenophis III

The son of Thutmosis IV took over from him and he was Amenophis III. It was during his time that the young Shuppiluliumas was very active, maybe at the age of 20 or earlier? That was around 1403 BCE. It was the time of Nazi-Maruttash (Kassite) which is seemingly biblical Cushan Rishathaim. His temple is somehow situated where the main Orientation of the Temple of Thutmosis III will meet, just south of Karnak. At the very meeting point, with his orientation of course through the center of the Amun/Amon temple at Karnak, Amenophis built a lake or high sea. He is famous for this lake and many big scarabs distributed in Palestine also (Commemorative Scarabs) tells about this "sea" or "high sea". Why did he build it in line with the Thutmosis III temple? Why a lake? Does it have any connotation to Thutmosis III who died in the Red Sea in 1450 BCE?  We are speculating here in the absence of direct data.

(e)(2) Palace of Amenophis III

The Palace of Amenophis orientates past the religious areas of Karnak and Luxor but in line with the orientations of his father, Thutmosis IV (see (d)(1)).

(f) Ramesseum

This is orientated also in line with the orientation of Thutmosis IV and Amenophis III reaching to the center of Luxor. It was built in the 19th dynasty of Egypt.

(g) Determining line of orientation

 It is very interesting that a whole line of temples and palace, were situated in such a way that should visitors past by the Nile they will be observed but also that they are situated almost as if they are on the same street.

Much more needs to be done with orientation of the temples at Thebes but somehow, we may have a better picture of what went on in ancient times of Egypt.

End item

Sketch from Luxor archaeological publication but adapted by Van Wyk 2009