Ashleigh Peploe, Yr 12 Ancient History, Mr. Slow
Question: ‘Explain the role of temples in pre-Amarna society’
Temples of New Kingdom Egypt, both mortuary and the cult centres, were considered to be the houses or “mansions” of the gods; the earthly domain of the deity. They were believed to be places where the earth, sky and the netherworld came together, where sacred time and space existed and where man and god could communicate with one another. Hence, from a solely religious perspective one could argue that the ultimate role of temples in pre-Amarna society was to uphold this connection between the people, the pharaoh and the gods. However, the size and scale of temple complexes of the early Eighteenth Dynasty provides insight into their economic role, and the content of the reliefs and inscriptions found on their walls suggests that pharaohs in particular used temples to promote themselves and their beliefs. Thus temples had several roles in society – a role in Egypt’s religion, its economy and its politics.
The primary role of a New Kingdom temple, being a religious complex, was to maintain the concept of ma’at. According to Shafer temples were “fortresses against chaos” [1], bringing order and stability to the two lands. By ensuring that the residing gods were satisfied the Egyptians were securing their own fortunes and earning the favour of the divine. The maintenance of ma’at was attained through the daily rituals and offerings by the temple priests, the annual festivals which brought state religion to the common people, and through the pharaoh’s inscriptions and building programs dedicated to the gods. For example, the temple of Amun-Ra at Luxor (southern Opet) was the centre of the Opet Festival and provides an example of Egyptian society’s devotion to the prominent god of the time – Amun. A fragment of the sixth way-station along the connecting avenue between the Karnak complex and Luxor temple depicts the Pa’et-people[2] worshipping Amun on their knees. The Opet festival “secured the regeneration of the Creator, Amun of Luxor, the rebirth of Amun-Re of Karnak and the recreation of the cosmos”[3] as did most festivals by the time of the New Kingdom, thus restoring the god with the energy to ward off chaos for the next year. The rejuvenation of the pharaoh as a semi-divine being also became a central role of such festivals and this served the purpose of reassuring the citizens of their king’s right and ability to rule. These festivals allowed the common person, who was otherwise not permitted access to the inner sanctuaries of the temple, to worship the god and commune with him in person (or at least a representation of his person).
Chapels of the Hearing Ear were also used in pre-Amarna times as a sort of “back door” to the inner sanctuary and the god. These sometimes contained statues, such as that of Thutmose III and the god Amun east of the Festival Hall at Karnak, which acted as intermediaries between the people and the gods.
Of the many symbolic associations of the temple, the idea that it was a fortress to protect the Egyptians against chaos demonstrates the relationship between the temple and the concept of ma’at, and provides the central religious role of the temple in New Kingdom society.
The architecture of the early Eighteenth Dynasty temples was not just used to house the pantheon of gods. As Kemp states, “Ideology needs architecture for its fullest expression.” [4] The temple buildings provided areas for pharaohs to publicly display their achievements and victories, and supported the strong link between religion and politics. In Hatshepsut’s mortuary temple at Deir el Bahri scenes depicting her divine birth as the daughter of Amun were acts of legitimisation, thus assuring the Egyptian people of her right to rule. Hatshepsut’s Punt reliefs and scenes portraying the transportation of her obelisks also depict her devotion to Amun, showing that she conformed to tradition by maintaining ma’at. Mortuary Temples in general were biographical accounts of the pharaoh’s life, illuminating the achievements of his reign. They ensured that the pharaoh was remembered in his next life as a deity, thus granting his eternal life.
At Karnak Temple, the western tower of the seventh pylon contains a scene depicting Thutmose III smiting his enemies from the north with a single blow of his club. This served not only as a display of the pharaoh’s strength and victory in conquest, assuring the Egyptians that he was protecting the lands; but as a reminder to foreigners that he was powerful throughout the region and should be feared. Other pharaohs, such as Amenhotep II with his relief at Karnak temple depicting his ability to shoot five arrows at a copper target, also took advantage of temples, using them for their own self promotion and consequently strengthening their position on the throne. Indeed Adolf Erman notes “all these representations and inscriptions are compiled more to the honour of the kings than to that of the gods.” [5] Thus temples provided the pharaohs with effective means of conveying their political attitudes and played a role in their self-glorification.
New Kingdom temples contributed significantly to Egypt’s economy as they often owned large estates for the production of offerings for the gods. Many personnel lived in the temple complex and worked as priests, officials, scribes, artists, sculptors, artisans, metalworkers, butchers and so forth. These workers and their families required food and the income from the temple’s land provided this. The offerings presented to the gods were later eaten by these people and on festival days the abundance of food could feed some of the town’s populace also. A scene from the tomb of Nakht shows this dependence on the estates’ produce. Nakht was an official serving possibly under the reign of Thutmose IV. In these wall paintings scenes depict workers picking grapes and making wine as well as catching water birds in a large neck and hanging them up. Nakht, who worked on the estates of Amun, oversees this activity, the result of which is piled before him and his wife.
The Egyptian people relied heavily on the estates to provide the food for the gods’ offerings and therefore agriculture was a significant part of their lives. Many temples also had their own fleet of boats and could therefore participate in trade with other regions. Pharaohs expanding the empire of Egypt during the New Kingdom brought back spoils from their campaigns and donated them to the great temples as an offering to the gods. These offerings were added to by the regular tribute from foreign lands which brought to Egypt many new resources such as incense, livestock and wood. The temples acted as storehouses for all of these materials, including the grain grown on their attached land. To the Egyptians grain equalled wealth and the “Major temples were the reserve banks of the time.”[6] As the major temples owned, by the early New Kingdom, up to one-third of the land’s agricultural estates, the amount of grain produced was more than enough. Kemp supposes that the temples’ ability to store and build up enormous reserves must have levelled out the effects a good or bad harvest had upon the economy, therefore keeping things relatively stable. Hence the temples had a significant and direct impact upon the Egyptian economy of the early New Kingdom and by relying upon their surrounding areas as well as their relationships with the other temples they were able to fulfil this role efficiently.
The temples of the early Eighteenth Dynasty were essentially responsible for the maintenance of ma’at by pleasing the gods through demonstrations of devotion, though they also played important roles in the distribution of political ideology on behalf of the pharaohs and in the stability of the economy. Reliefs and inscriptions from the temples of Egypt, in particular those from Thebes provide modern twenty-first century society with a glimpse into these roles and their impact upon ancient Eighteenth Dynasty society.
Bibliography
Shafer, B.E. & Haeny, G. / Temples of Ancient Egypt, I.B. Tauris & Co ltd, New York, 2005
Wilkinson, R.H. / The Complete Temples of Ancient Egypt, Thames & Hudson Ltd, United Kingdom, 2000
Hagen, R-M & R. / Egypt: People-Gods-Pharaohs, Taschen, South Korea, 2005
Kemp, B.J. / Ancient Egypt: Anatomy of a Civilization, TJ Press (Padstow) Ltd, Cornwall, 1989
Herman, A. / Life in Ancient Egypt, Dover Publications Inc., Canada
James, T.G.H. / An Introduction to Ancient Egypt, The Trustees of the British Museum, 1964
Montet, P. / Eternal Egypt, Phoenix Press, Great Britain, 1964
Bell, L.D. / The New Kingdom Dvine Temple: The Example of Luxor
Newspaper, Magazine Items
Sampsell, B.M. / ‘The Theban Temples of Thutmosis III’ The Ostracon; The Journal of the Egyptian Study Society, Vol 15, No. 2, Summer, 2004
World Wide Web
Tefnin, R. / Nakht, http://www.osirisnet.net/tombes/nobles/nakht/e_nakht.htm, 2005
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[1] Shafer, B.E. Temples of Ancient Egypt, I.B. Tauris & Co ltd, New York, 2005, p. 5
[2] According to Bell, L.D. The New Kingdom Dvine Temple: The Example of Luxor the Pa’et-people were perhaps members of the royal clan.
[3] ibid
[4] Kemp, B.J. Ancient Egypt: Anatomy of a Civilization, TJ Press (Padstow) Ltd, Cornwall, 1989, p.185
[5] Herman, A. Life in Ancient Egypt, Dover Publications Inc., Canada, p.284
[6] Kemp, B.J. op. cit. p.195