Ray Johnson Talks about Luxor Temple Beauty

Ray Johnson, the famous American research associate professor of the University of Chicago and the Oriental Institute, has been impressed by the beauty of Luxor Temple. He talked about this temple and praised all the engineers who exerted effort to make it a great tourist destination, in addition to the Ministry of Antiquities.

The reliefs of the Luxor Temple pylon façade at the back of the first court that depict the pylons, the two obelisks, the flagpoles, and the statues were carved before the statues were put in place.

All the above reflects the original plan that was never completely carried out.

The original plan seems to have been for all of the pylon colossal sculptures to be original grey granodiorite statues of Ramesses II, striding and seated. But for some reason that plan was changed (perhaps to meet Ramesses II's deadline for completion).

Worthy to note is that two earlier red-granite statues were brought in and reinscribed for Ramesses II, one for the far east side and one for the far west side. The westernmost colossus, still standing, was originally Amenhotep III, and is also different - it had a white crown, not a double crown, and is also red granite.

The easternmost red-granite colossus that has just been reassembled with the financial support of Chicago House and the US Embassy, was a late 18th Dynasty colossal statue, possibly of Horemheb (the face is reworked).

The pieces of the statue that survive indicate that it was in the Osiride pose. The base of the statue that was still located in "Situ" was too small for a striding statue, indicating that the statue was standing and not striding. The reconstruction, and original position, are 100% correct.

Sometimes plans change, as you well know, even in ancient Egypt! Remember that inside the first court, Ramesses II's colossal statues were inscribed earlier with his name (Ra-ms-ss); they were placed alongside Amenhotep III statues (the original Ramesses II statues do not have bull tails between their legs, while the original Amenhotep III statues all have bull tails between their legs).

When Ramesses II erected the statues there, the original names of Amenhotep III were left intact, because Ramesses II wanted to be associated with the glorious king who built 3/4 of Luxor Temple.

Later, just before Ramesses II's first jubilee, he changed his mind, and he erased Amenhotep III's names and reinscribed the colossi with his own name, in the later form (Ra-ms-sw), taking over their identity.

All of Ramesses II's original statues in the first court were inscribed with Ramesses' name, while the original Amenhotep III statues are inscribed with Ramesses II's later name. This tells us that he didn't appropriate the Amenhotep III statues until many years after he placed them in the court- another change of plan.

One can tell everyone that the outermost colossal statues in red granite on the far eastern and far western sides of the pylons were both part of a revised plan for the pylon façade, and that the reconstruction is correct.

Bosh Mohandis Abdel Razk and other archaeologists have done an extraordinary job, and have brought the Luxor Temple pylon façade back to glorious life. All Egyptian Temples of the New Kingdom were decorated in a similar manner, but Luxor temple is now the only temple in Egypt that now has all six of its original colossal sculptures in their original places.

"Mabruk" Congratulation to you, the SCA, the Ministry, and to Egypt for this wonderful work.

We and the US Embassy, Cairo, were happy to help with financial support, but the country can be proud that the work was done by a completely Egyptian team under the direction of Chief Engineer/Bosh Mohandis Ahmed Mohamed Ali (Abdel Razk), who is a real genius.

Luxor temple director Ahmed Araby is also to be commended for overseeing the work for the Ministry. The Ministry of Antiquities is very, very lucky to have them.