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Amenhotep III Palace – Malqata - West Bank
The palace was also known as “The Palace of the Dazzling Aten” and “The House of Rejoicing”
Malqata meaning “The place where things are picked up” On a map it is shown as Birket "meaning great lake" and is a place today where you can pick up pieces of coloured pottery, items of jewelry and seal stamps. There are many children that live nearby who are only too willing to sell you a few items that they have found.
The site covers a massive thirty thousand square meters and there are just a few places where you can still find some coloured mud brick walls. The Palace was build by Amenhotep III - 14th century BC. The site was occupied up to the Roman/Byzantine period. The Palace was Amenhotep's main residence in Thebes (the capital of ancient Egypt) and most likely in the whole country.
Malqata was abandoned by Akhenaten (Amenhotep III’s son and successor when he moved to Amarna and to break from the influence of the powerful priests. It may have been re-inhabited by Tutankhamen when the traditional religion was restored. Tutankhamen’s successor, Ay, most likely inhabited the palace for a while and then Horemheb after him. By Ramses II time, it was a minor residence as the capital was moved to Pi-Ramesses in the north.
Amun Temple – Malqata - West Bank
This important archaeological site lies at the southern end of the Theban necropolis, about one kilometer south of the temple of Medinet Habu. This was the town and palace site of Amenhotep III -18th Dynasty. First discovered in 1888. The complex included a large number of buildings, courts and parade grounds, housing for the inhabitants and a large Temple of Amun as well as the royal palaces, and was strung out over a distance of around one kilometer. The modern track to Armant now bisects the site, with the palace and temple area on the eastern side and the town site to the West.
An ancient road runs along the West side of Malqata and can be traced from at least as far north as Medinet Habu (the mortuary temple of Ramesses III), although it may have begun at Kom el-Hetan. The raised roadway, containing mud bricks stamped with the cartouche of Amenhotep III, runs south towards Deir el-Shelwit, probably ending there at a small temple to Isis (the current structure dates to the Ptolemaic period), although the road at this point has been destroyed by modern settlement activities. Nearby is Kom el-Samak.
The temple to Amun at Malqata was built of mud brick, reflecting the temporary and residential nature of the site. Egyptian temples were normally built of stone because they were intended to last for eternity. Malqata’s Amun temple was also of unusual design: its plan incorporated the open courts into the terraces of the original low desert landscape. The temple had a huge open sun court, whose proportion was far larger than the rooms to the rear of the temple. Perhaps the openness of the court was the result of the increasing emphasis on the solar cult. It must have been beautifully decorated; blue faience wall tiles were found set into plaster that was gilded, making a striking colour combination of blue and gold.
The sand infill is the way that the Archaeologists protect the site for further excavations. Somewhere on this site there is the area of the Alta.
Also see articles: Amenhotep III Palace 11th Jan'2013 & Amun Temple 29th Apr'2013 at