Temple of Ramesses III
Just inside the first pylon, to the right is the Temple of Ramesses III, a columned festival temple that was probably designed to hold the barques used in the ritual festivals for Amun, Mut, and Knonsu, the "Theban Triad".
A small hypostyle hall leads to the barque shrines. THe entire small temple is fronted by colossal statues.
Next to the temple is the Bubastis Portal, a small gateway built in the 22nd Dynasty. Through it, you can see gaps in the second pylon where dozen of statues were found along with blocks from Akhenaton's demolished temple of the Aten. They were not hidden here -- they were used as filler for the pylon when it was built by Horemheb.
|