Ramses III’s magnificent memorial temple of Medinat Habu (reign 1184-1153 BC) was the centre of the economic life of Thebes for centuries. Medinat Habu contained temples, storage rooms, workshops, administrative buildings, a royal palace and accommodation for priests and officials. The mud-brick remains of the medieval town that gave the site its name (medina means ‘town’ or ‘city’) on top of the enclosure walls.
The whole temple complex was surrounded by a massive fortified enclosure wall, with an unusual gateway at the eastern entrance, known as the pavilion gate. This structure, a copy of a Syrian fortresses is something you would not expect to see in Egypt. Rameses III, a military man probably saw the virtue in such a structure. It is a large two-storey building with the images of the pharaoh smiting his enemies.
The well-preserved first pylon marks the front of the temple proper. Ramses III is portrayed in its reliefs as the victor in several wars. Most famous are the fine reliefs of his victory over the Libyans. There is also a gruesome scene of scribes tallying the number of enemies killed by counting severed hands and genitals.
The walls of the open courts are decorated with battle scenes depicting war against the Syrians and the Libyans. The reliefs feature Ramses III presenting prisoners of war to Amun and his vulture-goddess wife, Mut. Colonnades and reliefs surround the open courts, depicting various religious ceremonies.
Ramesses III was the last of the great pharaohs of Egypt. After his reign, Egypt began a long decline that led to it being ruled by foreign powers for the majority of its history after the New Kingdom. After the empire stretched to its furthest extremes under Ramesses II, the pressure of invasion threats from multiple frontiers eventually proved too much. Ramesses III is the last pharaoh to whom there are great building project attributed and this temples complex was the biggest of them.
The Battle of Djahy was a major land battle between the forces of Pharaoh Ramesses III and the Sea Peoples who intended to invade and conquer Egypt. The conflict occurred on the Egyptian Empire's easternmost frontier in Djahy, or modern-day southern Lebanon, in the eighth year of Ramesses III or about c. 1178 BC. In this battle the Egyptians, led by Ramesses III, defeated the Sea Peoples, who were attempting to invade Egypt by land and sea. The description of the battle and prisoners is documented in detail on the temple's walls, which also contain the longest hieroglyphic inscription known. Temple reliefs feature many bound prisoners defeated in battle.