The Mortuary Temple of Seti I
The Mortuary Temple of Seti I is on Luxor’s west bank. It shows the best of New Kingdom art. Seti I died before he could finish the temple. His son, Ramses II, completed it. The temple now sits in a palm grove. It’s at the northern end of the Theban necropolis. Few visitors go there.
History of the Temple
Floods in 1994 seriously damaged the temple, which has since been completely rebuilt. A tiny door in the northeast corner of the restored, fortress-like enclosing wall leads you to the entryway. The first and second pylons, along with the court, are all destroyed. The pharaoh’s palace has also vanished, but archaeologists recently discovered its foundations just south of the court, making it the earliest surviving example of a palace within a memorial temple. Its layout is comparable to the better-preserved palace at Ramses III’s Medinat Habu memorial temple.
Inside the Mortuary Temple of Seti I
Beautifully made reliefs decorate the walls of the columned portico on the temple’s west front and the hypostyle court beyond. Six shrines flank the hypostyle. To the south, a small chapel honors Seti’s father, Ramses I, who died before he could construct his own burial temple.
