10th September 2013
Montu Temple – Madamum
Montu Temple – Madamum
Montu Temple at Madamum also known as (Medamut – Madamut – Medamud & Medu).
Google Ref: 25.44.03.56"N - 32.42.36.06"E
I had a great day out on the motorbike visiting the Montu Temple at Madamum. I used the GPS on my iPhone and it was almost perfect but there is always a pathway that presents itself and when I am told to take a turn, which one should it be.
Madamum is about 14 kilometres northeast of Luxor centre. Once you come off the main road, you have to go through the small village of Madamum. I found the people there to be friendly. The site was being worked on but I got permission to walk around it. I was well pleased with what I had found.
The ruins date from Old Kingdom (about 2572-2134 BC) There was an ancient Sanctuary here first. An avenue of Sphinxes leads from the temple to the west for a couple of hundred meters towards the Wharf; sadly no heads on them now. I was told that it is believed there may be an avenue of sphinxes leading south to Karnak not yet unearthed.
Composed of twelve columns, the structure was built under Ptolemy VIII, who was then one of the great rebuilders of Medamud. Four of the six columns of the facade are still connected by walls. Parts of the inner temple are dated from the beginning of the Ptolemaic period.
There is a sacred lake and deep well. The temple was enlarged over the centuries by Tiberius and up to the reign of Antoninus Pius. At the end of the avenue of sphinx is a Wharf connected by a canal. There was a monumental gateway within the walls of the temple axis. Ptolemy VIII built a towered portico around the door. Inside the monument and on the doors describe scenes of the Sed Festival when the King receives offerings and an important step in the inauguration ceremony of the Royal Power. There are scenes of the cult of the bull Buchis which date mostly from the emperor Domitian (81-96). Many statues of Bulls were found on this site.
Montu was the falcon-headed God of war, the patron God of Thebes.
This temple was probably used as the place of worship for the God Montu. He is also associated with the Buchis Ball where the burial grounds were at Arment and probably dedicated to his death.