Ouadi-be-Seboua

Ouadi be-Seboua , or valley of the lions (Arab واديالسبوع), is a regrouping of temples located into Low Nubie at the edge of the Lac Nasser, including one remarkable large temple Hémispéos of Ramsès {{II}}.

Set up between year 35 and year 50 of the reign of Ramsès, the temple of Ouadi be-Seboua is the third hémi-spéos that the Pharaon made build in Nubie. Located at approximately a hundred and fifty kilometers in the south of Assouan, on western bank of the Nile, the temple owed its importance with the fact that at the time ramesside, the city, built with the outlet of the caravan roads, was used as place of residence with the viceroy of Koush and that it was at the entry of an elbow of the Nile considered difficult to cross by the boats which went up the current.

At the same place rose already a sanctuary of Amenhotep {{III}} in the honor of Amon which was then transformed into place of worship for the god Horakhty with the time amarnienne.

Ramsès entrusted the work management to the viceroy of Nubie Sétaou which, if one judges some by the poor quality of the elements of the dromos and the osiriaques statues of the court, had to be satisfied with a local labor comprising only few craftsmen worthy of this name.

The temple of Amon

The temple of Ramsès-like-of Amon-in-the-field-in Amon was used as resting place with the boat crowned during its descent of the Nile. The Arabs, inspired by the stone sphinges with bodies of lion which kept the central alley, baptized the Ouadi place are-Seboua, the valley of the lions.

In 1964, on the initiative of the Service of Egyptian antiquities, the temple of Ramsès was dismounted and rebuilt on a level higher than four kilometers more in the west on the site of the Seboua news. On the other hand, the spéos of Amenhotep could not be moved and was submerged by water of the lake Nasser.

The temple comprised three distinct parts:

two courses with open sky decorated with sphinx or dromos;
a large interior court with pillars osiriaques;
the spéos.

In the beginning, a first pylon out of raw bricks was preceded by two sphinges with human head accompanying two statues by the king in position and was upright capped Pschent. This pylon, now disappeared, opened on a first court whose central alley was bordered of sphinx, always with human head and capped pschent.

Behind a thick believed brick pylon, missing also, a second court accommodated four sphinges with head of falcon representing Horus de Miam, that of Meha, that of Baki and, curiously, Horus d' Edfou where one would expect to find that of Bouhen. Between their legs a statuette with the image of Ramsès capped with the Némès was. On their base, an inscription naming Ramsès “Lord of festivals-Sed, as his/her Ptah father” refers to the desire of longevity of the Pharaon already expressed on the vestiges of the second door: “Ramsès-Méry-Amon, large of festivals-Sed, like Ptah”.

Once the alley of the sphinges crossed, of the steps lead to a high paved terrace. There drew up, on the pedestal ones, four monumental of Ramsès, high statues six meters. One remains, of the southern part, in the traditional attitude of walk, left leg ahead, with at its sides the effigy of a princess, undoubtedly the Grande royal wife Bentanat, oldest daughter of Isis-Nofret. The colossus carries a étendart dominated by the head of the ram of Amon. On the other side of the passage towards the interior court, the same colossus held a surmounted standard of a head of falcon. According to Christiane Desroches Noblecourt, it is Mérytamon, the other large royal wife, girl of Néfertari, which was to appear in its sides. The reliefs of the third pylon were worn by time and one badly distinguishes the images from the king sacrificing to Amon, the south, and Horakhty, north.

On the pillars of the two side gantries of the large square court which follows the figures of Ramsès in Osiris press. The king posts his many descent there. A group of twenty princesses was represented on the southern wall, followed by twenty-five princes then of nine other princesses. In north, one can distinguish eighteen princesses as well as a procession from twenty-eight princes. In the other scenes, more traditional, the king faces the divinities. With four recoveries, it is represented déifié. Just like in the external alley, allusions to the festivals-Sed are numerous.

It is with the hypostyle room which the rupestral part of the temple begins. This room, square and of reduced size, contains twelve pillars whose base was cut in the rock. The columns of the central alley are decorated osiriaques statues. On the walls, the king is represented vis-a-vis several divinities: Onouris, Shou, Nekhbet, Tefnout and Hathor; elsewhere, Ptah promises to the Pharaon “very many festivals-Sed”.

The anteroom is bored of five doors, each one having a name related to the multiple jubilees wished by the Pharaon, such that of “Maât gives to Ramsès the festivals-Sed Re”. On both sides of the entry, of the reliefs illustrate one of the major elements of the temple: Ramsès is not in front of the gods, it took seat among them. Alive God, it honors itself in his immortal and divinized form.

The saint-of-saints is composed of a central vault and two side chapels, narrower. The crowned boat, which was to be parked there, is represented twice, honoured by the Pharaon. On the northern wall, its prow and its poop are decorated of a head of falcon whereas on the southern wall, the boat is provided with heads of rams. The lintel of the niche of the bottom represents knelt Ramsès facing the boat of the rising sun on which throne Re-Horakhty. When at the 5th century, the temple was transformed into Christian church, part of the reliefs were masked of a layer of paint where divine images were painted. In the niche, the statues of the king surrounded by Amon and Re-Horakhty were destroyed and replaced by Christian images: one can see thus there today making Ramsès of the offerings… with Pierre saint.

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