The Hypostyle Hall Of The Temple Of Amen-Re

The Hypostyle hall of the temple of Amen-Re at Karnak, Egypt was built during the Ramesside period. The hall was begun by Sety I and completed by the Ramesses II. It is one of the greatest architectural marvels at Karnak. The dimensions of the hypostyle hall are 338 feet in width and a depth of 170 feet. The hall is more than a third of the area of the St. Peter’s in Rome, at 56,000 square feet. The design of a hypostyle hall allows for the construction of large spaces such as temples, public buildings and palaces. The drawback of a hypostyle hall is that most of the floor space is filled with multiple, large pillars, but the presence of heroic and religious relief carvings on the columns turns this drawback into an advantage. 134
Pharaohs from the Ramesside period inscribed their names onto the columns in the main and northern side aisles although the reliefs date back to the reign of Sethos I. On Pharaohs from the Ramesside period inscribed their names onto the columns in the main and northern side aisles although the reliefs date back to the reign of Sethos I. the outer half of the north wall, battle scenes are depicted in sunken relief, which replaced the traditional raised relief. The reliefs on the outer east wing depict Sethos I in battle with the Bedouin, during his campaigns in Palestine and Syria. These reliefs are arranged in two registers that sit one above the
I pray to the ends of the lands, yet my voice goes round Southern On. I found that Amun came when I called on him. He gave me his hand and I was happy. From behind he called to me, as if face-to-face: ‘Forward! I am with you, I am your father. My hand is with you and I am more efficient than hundreds of thousands. I am the lord of victory, who loves courage.’ I was filled with valour and rejoiced. Everything I did happened. I was like Month; I shot on my right and seized with my left. In your face I was like Seth in his time. I found that the two thousand five hundreds chariots which surrounded me, were laid low before my horse. None of them found his hand to fight. Their hearts failed them in their bodies for fear of me; their arms became weak and they could not