Limestonr Doorway From the Palace

A detailed Summary of Limestonr Doorway From the Palace

During the Nineteenth Dynasty a great many changes started to happen in Egypt. In the year 1225 BC King Ramses II had died at the age of over ninety leaving the throne to his thirteenth son Merenptah (IV.150). When Merenptah began his rule he was well into his later years in life, approximately in his mid fifties. Although Merenptah only reigned for roughly ten years, his days were filled will both battle and rejoice many that have shaped artifact imagery that has been uncovered within the past century.

One particular artifact that I would like to describe can be found at the University Museum of Archeology and Anthropology at the University of Pennsylvania. The piece is a limestone doorway from the palace of King Merenptah at Memphis (see Appendix A). This piece represents one of six identical doorways in King Merenptah's palace. The doorway is covered with hieroglyphics that tell many stories of Merenptah's life and symbolic features of Egypt. Before I can describe the details of the hieroglyphs, a brief history of Merenptah's reign should be told. This history develops when the king took office, through his many battles over past grudges and territorial locations, and where and how he died.

In addition to the water damage of the palace, much of the artwork and figures have been badly damaged by the fire that engulfed the entire building (II.30). The "Great Hall" of the palace was where ceremonies and parties were held in association with the king, and also acted as a main corridor in which seven different rooms split off of. The main room was the "Throne Room" where King Merenptah stayed most of the day (II.31). The other six rooms were considered apartments where guests of the king stayed during visits.

Both the lintel and the jamb hieroglyphs were carefully cut out of the limestone three eighths of an inch deep. Each carving was also decoratively inlaid with blue faience (III.97). Finally, along the left jamb lays a socket for a metal door fastening. This fastening would be used to store prisoners in one of the adjoining apartments. Only three of the six doorways offered a socket, indicating that not all of the apartments could be used to house prisoners.

Justification cannot be given nor a definite motif behind the death of Merenptah and the fire following his death, but one can see why many people would be upset with his decisions. The only things that we have are the artifacts left behind by these ancient civilizations. It may never fully be known what happened or why, but what is known can tell a great story of our past and the pasts of people around us.

Each of the rooms hosted an elaborate doorway made of limestone. The doorway to the "Throne Room" was the most decorative of all depicting the pharaoh giving offerings to Ptah, the great god of Memphis (II.32). Merenptah prayed to Ptah and had a dream of him before he fought the battle with the Libyans (I.468). The dream showed Ptah as a gigantic stature beside him telling him to "banish all fear" (I.468). This doorway also shows many similarities of the six doors leading into the apartments.

Each of the six doors leading into the apartments is identical having many of the same features the "Throne Room" doorway offers. Each of the doorways, including that leading into the "Throne Room" are made up of four limestone slabs (see Appendix A). Two slabs are used as the jambs, doorway sides, and two slabs make up the lintel with accompanying overhanging cornice (III.98).

Shortly after the many battles fought in his third year Merenptah fou

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Category: History