MADINAT HABU

also spelled Medinet Habu, southernmost part of the necropolis region of western Thebes in Upper Egypt, although the name often refers specifically to the mortuary temple built there by Ramses III (118756 BC). (See Thebes.) This temple, which was also dedicated to the god Amon, was carved with religious scenes and portrayals of Ramses' wars against the Libyans and the Sea Peoples. It was situated within a fortified enclosure wall, with remarkable entrance towers, imitating Syrian migdol fortresses, on the east side. A royal palace was attached at the south of the open forecourt of this temple, while priests' dwellings and administrative units lay on either side of the temple. The site of Madinat Habu became an important shrine as the worship of Amon intensified in Egypt. Ramses III's walls had enclosed a small temple called Djeser-Iset that was dedicated to Amon and had been built by the earlier pharaohs Hatshepsut and Thutmose III. A series of pylons, porches, courts, and a columned hall were added to this temple by Ramses III and rulers of the 25th, 29th, and Ptolemaic dynasties and the Roman emperor Antoninus Pius. In the first millennium BC, a town called Djeme developed within the fortifications of the temple. A settlement survived there into the Coptic period.