Precinct of Mut

Precinct of Mut

The southern part of Karnak contains the temple of Mut, on the east bank of the Nile, more than 900 feet south of the temple of Amun-Ra. It is surrounded by a crescent shaped sacred lake called Isheru, and subsidiary structures, especially the temple of Khons-pekhrod, originally of the 18th Dynasty, and a temple of Ramesses III. During the New Kingdom, Mut, Amun and Khonsu their son became the pre-eminent divine family triad of Thebes. The earliest reference to Mut, Mistress of Isheru, occurs on a statue of the 17th Dynasty. Inscriptional evidence also links the site to Mut in the early 18th Dynasty reign of Amenhotep I. The earliest, securely dated Mut Temple remains are no later than the reigns of Tutmosis III and Hatshepsut. The temple of Mut was built by Amenhotep III, but here too the propylon in the enclosure wall is Ptolemaic, Ptolemy II Philadelphus and III Euergetes I, and there are later additions to the temple by Taharqa and Nectanebo I among others. Hundreds of statues of the goddess Sekhmet inscribed for Amenhotep III are in museums, but some are still on site, perhaps moved from the king’s mortuary temple on the West Bank. Recent excavations indicate that much, and possibly all, of the present precinct was village settlement, until some time in the Second Intermediate Period. Under Hatshepsut and Tutmosis III, the precinct seems to have consisted of the Mut Temple and the sacred lake and to have extended no further north than the temple’s first pylon. Parts of the west and north walls of these precinct have been uncovered, including a gate bearing Tutmosis III’s name and a Seti I restoration inscription. The eastern and southern boundaries of this precinct are as yet undefined. The Mut Temple was enlarged later in the 18th Dynasty, when the Tutmoside building was completely enclosed by new construction, probably by Amenhotep III. The Mut temple’s present second pylon, of mud-brick, dates no later than the 19th Dynasty, and may have replaced an earlier precinct or temple wall. Its eastern half was built of stone late in the Ptolemaic period. The temple’s first pylon, also of mud-brick, has a stone gateway built no later than the 19thDynasty, and displays at least one major repair. This pylon may also replace an earlier northern precinct wall. Also in the 19th Dynasty, Ramesses II rebuilt Temple A, which lay outside the precinct and which was already enlarged by Amenhotep III. In front of Temple A, Ramesses II erected two colossal statues, at least one usurped from Amenhotep III, and and two alabaster stelae recarved from parts of a shrine of Amenhotep II. One stelae indicates that Temple A was at that time dedicated to Amun. Temple A was more extensively renovated during the 25th Dynasty, during which time it functioned at least in part as a birthhouse, celebrating the birth of Amun and Mut’s divine child, with whom the king was identified. A significant part of the Mut Temple was also rebuilt. In the 25th and 26th Dynasties a proliferation of small chapels began. These include at least two dedicated by Montuemhat, an official in the reign of Taharka, a magical healing chapel dedicated by Horwedja, Great Seer of Heliopolis, a chapel related to Divine Votaresses, a small Ptolemy VI chapel, and Chapel D dedicated to Mut and Sekhmet, built by Ptolemies VI and VIII. The massive enclosure walls built by Nectanebo II of the 30th Dynasty give the precinct its current shape and size, incorporating Temple C and a large area south of the sacred lake as-yet unexplored.