The Tayok Pye Temple is by far the largest in this particular group of temples and one of the most ornate. Dating from the 13th century, it is richly adorned outside with much surviving stucco ornamentation, whilst within its four main chambers still contain significant portions of the original mural decoration.
www.baganmyanmar.com/bagan-pagodas-temples/bagan-temples/...
Part of a group of small temples and pagodas in the east of the Bagan Archaeological Zone.
The famous archaeological zone of Bagan (formerly called Pagan) contains over 2000 ancient temples and stupas spread across the area. Most of the structures seen today date from between the 9th & 13th centuries when the city was capital of the Pagan Kingdom. All the temples are brick-built, and formerly were covered with rich stucco ornamentation inside and out (elements of this survive at certain temples).
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bagan
Tags: Bagan Burma Myanmar temple Buddhist pagoda
© All Rights Reserved
Our first views of Mexico City in daylight (a welcome sight after a stressful night), from the roof of our hotel in the heart of the city.
Tags: mexico city mexico
© All Rights Reserved
Photos taken on an evening visit to Philae for son et lumiere (we returned the following morning for a longer visit in daylight!).
The temple of the goddess Isis at Philae is one of the most beautiful in Egypt, not as large as some but structurally largely complete, which is fitting for the temple believed to be the last to operate under the ancient Egyptian religion, having only formally closed for pagan worship in the 6th century AD.
It was also the first of Egypt's great temples I ever saw in person and left me spellbound, and thus it was fitting that this should again be the first we visited on this trip.
The temple sits in a uniquely picturesque setting on a small island in the Nile south of Aswan and thus has only ever been approached boat. The complex consists of the main temple building dedicated to Isis (wife of Osiris and mother of Horus) whose inner sanctum is entered via a forecourt with towering pylons guarding the inner and outer entrances. All this is approached from the Nile through an open court flanked by lengthy colonnades making an unforgettable first impression.
There are several subsidary buildings of note around the site, the most imposing of which is undoubtedly the large rectangular colonnaded structure known as 'Trajan's Kiosk', which features some beautifully carved capitals.
The temple is relatively new by Egyptian standards, begun under one of the last of the native pharoahs, Nectanebo I (c380-62 BC) but mostly dating to the Ptolemaic period (as do many of the better preserved temples in the south of the country).
The temple's long use and later conversion to a church along with its remote location helped preserve it more or less completely over the centuries, but in the 20th century it faced its biggest threat, the construction of the Aswan dams which are located either side and caused Philae island to flood. The first dam (built 1902) caused the temple to be inundated for much of the year (thus washing away all the remaining paintwork from the interior; 19th century watercolours record what a loss the coloured details were). The bigger threat came in the 1960s when the Aswan High Dam was built to the south, causing the water levels to rise enough to completely submerge most of the temple. For some years all that could be seen of Philae were the four main towers and the columns of Trajan's Kiosk emerging from the waters.
Fortunately salvation came in the 1970s following the campaign to rescue and relocate the Nubian temples further south also threatened by the rising waters. Following the construction of a coffer-dam around the temple the entire temple complex was dismantled and rebuilt on higher ground on the adjoining island of Agilkia where it can be enjoyed in its full splendour today.
For more on this wonderful site see below:-
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philae
Tags: Philae temple Egypt ancient Egyptian architecture Ptolemaic
© All Rights Reserved
Footbridge close to our hotel in the Chit Lom district of Bangkok, illuminated for Christmas!
Tags: Bangkok Thailand illuminated footbridge
© All Rights Reserved
One of the grandest and most rewarding monuments of the ancient world, the Temple of Amun at Karnak simply cannot fail to impress with its grandeur. It is a vast complex of buildings over three main precincts, the greatest of which is that of Amun with the enormous great temple at its heart. This is the main draw for all visitors to Karnak, with its avenue of sphinxes, huge courtyards and incomparable pillared hypostyle hall. It is not only one of Egypt's most important monuments but simply one of the greatest ancient sites anywhere.
The great temple of Amun dominates the complex and is the work of successive dynasties throughout the New Kingdom, at which point the local god Amun had been established as the state god of Egypt (his name means 'the hidden one', as he only rose to prominence relatively late in Egyptian history, largely connected to the rising importance of Thebes as the centre of power, thus its local god rose with it). Some of the earliest parts at the east end date to the reign of Thutmoses I with successive sections added by other 18th & 19th Dynasty rulers, with great obelisks erected by Hatshepsut and much of the Hypostyle Hall and pylons built under Seti I and his son Ramesses II. The first courtyard and the main pylon were the latest additions to the temple under the reign of Nectanebo I and were never fully finished.
The temple is approached through and avenue of large ram-headed sphinxes, each protecting a small pharoah figure between their paws, representing the god Amun (whose sacred animal was the ram) protecting the king. These statues are usually identified as dating to the reign of Ramesses II, but it is possible they may date further back to Amenophis III. Originally this avenue stretched all the way through what is now the first courtyard to the 2nd pylon and hypostyle hall, but after construction of the 1st pylon and courtyard those beyond the new facade were stored in rows either side of the new courtyard beyond the entrance pylon.
The main facade is formed by the towering 1st pylon built under Nectanebo I and never finished, the stonework is still rough-hewn and lacking in decoration and the northern tower remains somewhat shorter than its southern neighbour. The southerrn tower has at its rear the remains of a mud-brick ramp used during construction. The courtyard beyond is vast and dotted with pillars and statues from various earlier stages in the growth of Karnak, including a towering column from a pavilion built by Nubian Pharoah Taharqa, two colossi of Ramesses II (one usurped later by Pinedjem) and more of the ram-sphinxes that once lined the approach.
Beyond the courtyard is the more ruinous 2nd pylon which leads to the most famous part of the Karnak Temple complex, the incredible Hypostyle Hall, sometimes called the 'Hall of a Hundred Columns' owing to the great multitude of thick, round columns in every direction, like a forest of enormous tree-trunks in stone. There are 134 columns in all in 16 rows, the central axis columns being taller with palm-capitals, whilst the rows either side of this carried a clerestorey of stone-latticed windows, many of which survive (originally these would have been the main light source when the hall had its roof). The decoration on the columns and side walls dates mostly to the reign of Ramesses II and is in sunken relief, but some earlier work from Seti I's reign in raised-relief can be seen on the north side.
Continuing along the main eastern axis the great temple becomes more ruinous and harder to follow, but several major features stand out such as the obelisk of Hatshepsut and the much later barque shrine, whilst some distance beyond the festival hall of Thutmosis III, a pillared structure that represents the most substantial remaining part of the eastern sections of the temple and retains some coloured decoration inside.
In addition to the main eastern axis of the temple there is the southern axis that is formed of four courtyards and further pylon towers and gates which extend towards the precinct of Amun's consort Mut (a much more ruined site reached by equally ruined sphinx avenues to the south, one of which also connects with that leading to Luxor Temple a mile or so further on).. These sections of the complex are mostly closed to visitors at present with stabilisation works ongoing.
There are further smaller temples and areas of great interest around the huge Karnak site, which we have visited on a previous trip (we once spent an entire day here in the pre-digital 1990s), but sadly time was limited on this occasion to focusing on the major sections of the great temple itself, so we hope to return to spend longer here another time.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karnak
Tags: Karnak temple Luxor Egypt ancient Egyptian relief
© All Rights Reserved