Medinet Habu: Ramesses III's Temple on the Luxor West Bank

What You Are Looking At

Medinet Habu is the mortuary temple of Ramesses III, built in the reign of Ramesses III and dated c. 1184 to 1153 BC in one source and c. 1186 to 1155 BC in another. The formal ancient name was the Temple of Usermare-Meriamon, called United-with-Eternity, in the estate of Amon on the west of Thebes. The Egyptians knew the place as Djamet and Greek sources called it Memnonia.

The temple itself runs about 150 metres long and holds 48 rooms, with more than 7,000 square metres of decorated wall relief. The first court is lined with colossal statues of Ramesses III shown as Osiris, and the second court has columns shaped as the king.

The Gates and the Enclosure

The mudbrick enclosure wall stood 18 metres high and 10 metres thick, and the enclosed area covered 66,000 square metres. The full enclosure measures 315 by 210 metres.

The wall had fortified gates in its east and west sides. Inside, the outer court held a garden with a sacred pool measuring 20 by 18 metres. A royal palace stood beside the temple, built in two phases with a second storey added later, and its ground plan has been restored for visitors to see. The palace throne complex had an antechamber with 16 columns that served as a window of appearances.

The Small Temple of Amun

Medinet Habu is not only one temple. An older, small temple of the Eighteenth Dynasty stands at the site, dedicated to the Ogdoad, a group of eight creator gods. Hatshepsut restored it after calling it neglected. She died after finishing part of the sanctuary, and Thutmose III completed the work. Her own temple is covered on the Temple of Hatshepsut page.

The sanctuary of the small temple has six rooms, and one holds large statues of Amun and Thutmose III. Centuries later a Coptic town called Jeme grew inside the temple precinct and lasted until the 9th century. A five-aisled basilica stood in the second court. The last remnants of the Coptic town were cleared at the end of the nineteenth century, and many Greco-Roman buildings were destroyed without records.

Scholarship here runs long and deep. The University of Chicago Oriental Institute Epigraphic Survey has recorded the temple almost continuously since 1924, and Uvo Holscher's architectural survey worked five seasons until 1932, when the complex was found under mounds of rubbish 3 to 6 metres high.

Did Ramesses III Fight the Sea Peoples?

Yes, according to the temple's own record. Medinet Habu shows Ramesses III's battles with the Sea Peoples. The north wall carries 13 scenes read as one campaign running from the Libyans to the so-called Sea Peoples. Gaston Maspero first proposed that these panels showed an invasion of Egypt by Sea Peoples from Anatolia.

Two reliefs stand out. One shows Ramesses III and his troops shooting arrows at enemies in ships. Another shows feather-helmeted foes with women and children in ox carts.

For another temple stop, see Karnak Temple. On the West Bank circuit, the Colossi of Memnon are another stop.

Ticket, Hours and What Is Nearby

The figures below come from the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities and from Wikivoyage. Where the two sources disagree, both amounts are printed so you can budget for the higher one. Opening hours and the time a visit needs are not confirmed here, so check locally on the day.

Why is Medinet Habu quieter than the tomb sites? Wikivoyage describes it as a remarkable temple that gets relatively few visitors. Of the Luxor Valley of the Kings tours compared here, only one lists Medinet Habu. The others concentrate on the tombs, the Valley of the Queens and Hatshepsut's temple. That makes it a good place to slow down, and Deir el-Medina, the tomb builders' own village about 960 metres away in a straight line, makes a natural second stop. Its workers staged what may be the first recorded sit-down strike, around 1170 BC under Ramesses III, over late grain rations, so the two sites share a king and a story.

The Tour That Includes Medinet Habu

Only one of the tours compared here includes Medinet Habu, so check the itinerary before you book. The private day that includes it is Luxor Day Tour: Valley of Kings & Queens & Hatchepsut Temples by Reflections Travel, an 8-hour private tour from Luxor priced at $89.24 with a 4.9 rating from 1,740 reviews. Admission to the Valley of the Kings, the Valley of the Queens, Deir el-Medina, Habu Temple and Hatshepsut Temple is included. The listing does not mention a Tutankhamun tomb ticket, and lunch is not stated as included, so do not assume either. Details are on the Private West Bank, Kings and Queens page.

If you are building your own day instead, read the Valley of the Kings map first to see how the West Bank sites sit against each other, and check Medinet Habu hours locally on arrival. For the tomb that dominates most itineraries, see Tutankhamun's tomb, and for the Seti I tomb ticket see the tomb of Seti I. The full tour-to-ticket comparison lives on the homepage comparison table, one line per tour.

• Private West Bank day, 8 hours, $89.24, entry to five sites including Medinet Habu
• Free cancellation 24h, private group, pickup from the starting point
• Age bands on the listing: infant 0-2, child 3-11, adult 12-80, with infant seats available

Jeme and Its Basilica

A Coptic settlement named Jeme grew inside the mudbrick enclosure and lasted until the 9th century. The second court of the temple held a five-aisled basilica, so Christian worship happened under the same decorated walls that carry the Sea Peoples reliefs. The last remnants of the Coptic town were cleared at the end of the nineteenth century. That clearance destroyed a large number of Greco-Roman buildings without records, which is why the site today looks more purely pharaonic than it once was.

The names of the place shifted with its rulers. Egyptian sources knew it as Djamet, while Greek sources called it Memnonia. The ancient formal name of Ramesses III's temple was longer still: the Temple of Usermare-Meriamon, called United-with-Eternity, in the estate of Amon on the west of Thebes.

The Royal Palace Beside the Temple

A royal palace stood next to the temple within the enclosure. It was built in two phases, and the second phase added a second storey. The ground plan has been restored so visitors can read the layout today.

The throne complex had an antechamber with 16 columns that served as a window of appearances, where the king could show himself to the crowds outside. Seeing the palace, the temple and the pool side by side makes an 8-hour private circuit such as the Private West Bank, Kings and Queens day at $89.24 an efficient way to cover the site with its neighbours.

Digging Out the Complex

Uvo Holscher's architectural survey worked five seasons until 1932. When the work began, the whole complex lay under mounds of rubbish 3 to 6 metres high, so the temple had to be dug out before it could be measured. That is one reason the enclosure reads so clearly today: the enclosed area of 66,000 square metres was only revealed once those mounds came down.

Recording Every Wall

Since 1924, the University of Chicago Oriental Institute Epigraphic Survey has recorded Medinet Habu almost continuously. The scale makes sense once you stand in front of the walls: the temple is about 150 metres long, has 48 rooms, and holds more than 7,000 square metres of decorated relief. Nearly a century of documentation means almost every scene you photograph has been studied and drawn.

To plan a visit around the wider West Bank, start from the Valley of the Kings tours homepage, and if you want a half-day option that pairs the big tombs with temple time, the West Bank Half Day with Lunch is a shared 5-hour tour at $23.