Habu Temple

[Horus]

In another post we were mentioning past or in some cases deceased members and how their contributions are sadly missed, I mentioned Charlie, or as most knew him, Mrs Doubtfire. Carrie and myself also said (in yet another thread) how much we enjoyed visiting Medinat Habu. Charlie and I would often post old images of the sites on here from wherever we located them and although we often argued, we often swapped images. Shortly before his passing he emailed me all of his old pictures saying that he thought I would find them interesting, which I do. I added them to my own colection and today I thought I would show a few on here. As I said they are all collected from various sources, so where it does not say so I will credit the appropriate owners and publish them under 'Creative Commons' for educational purposes.

These are some of Medinet Habu prior to restoration:

Habu Temple 1856


Habu Temple Hall of Columns 1856


Habu Temple posssibly 1875?
Look closely at the ruins in the distance and what looks like a flood plain


Habu Temple


Note, some images have dates different to the the dates that Charlie had on his image file. I have left those unchanged as he may have done some reasearch that gave him different dates to those on the actual prints.

[Jayway]

More please, I enjoyed some nice evenings wandering around Habu.

[Who2]

Now Charlie really was a brain...sadly missed...

[LovelyLadyLux]

Lovely photos and a lovely place to explore.........a photo definitely can say way more than a 1000 words.

[Horus]

Now Charlie really was a brain...sadly missed...

I agree and he could do an excellent write up when it came to Egyptology, but that was only a part of his writing talent.

[BBLUX]

I'm really glad his archive was sent to you Horus. It was important that it was keep intact.
People often used to ask what happened to all his images. It would be nice to see his images once in a while. A very erudite man who was liked by all who met him

The same with Stan's images but i'm not sure if his were kept intact. I believe what was located was sent to his friend Sue.

[Who2]

What happened to all of Charlie's paintings...
No answer required as I already knew the answer.

[carrie]

Third photo, can't orientate myself what are the ruins in the back ground please?

[Grandad]

And, as I remember, Charlie was also a talented artist.

I imagine that many of Stan's pictures were posted on his website, eternalegypt.co.uk, but these seem now to have been lost as his very good website is no longer available.

But back to Habu. It seems to be in most peoples favourites list, some magic about the place that draws us back on most Luxor visits.

[Grandad]

What happened to all of Charlie's paintings...
No answer required as I already knew the answer.

So why ask the question if you know the answer?

[carrie]

Stan's site is available Grandad, just looked at it. Brought back many happy memories.

[Grandad]

Stan's site is available Grandad, just looked at it. Brought back many happy memories.

I got taken to 'Go Daddy' which said it was parked for free? How did you open it?

[BENNU]

Post by Sue:

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=36756

Sue:

"My son has helped to get Stan's files uploaded, the domain name is slightly different. We could not get his old domain name, however, it is pretty close. So in his memory I hope you will all enjoy his journey around Egypt."

http://www.eternalegypt.uk

[Grandad]

Thanks for that BENNU I am so pleased that Stan's site is still available, so informative and well designed.

A belated thanks also to you Sue and your son for keeping Stan's memory alive. I only just realised how young he was, very sad....RIP Stan

[Horus]

I'm really glad his archive was sent to you Horus. It was important that it was keep intact.
People often used to ask what happened to all his images. It would be nice to see his images once in a while. A very erudite man who was liked by all who met him

The same with Stan's images but i'm not sure if his were kept intact. I believe what was located was sent to his friend Sue.

Barry, I cannot be certain that I have ALL of Charlies images, only that as we sometimes exchanged emails and exchanged images between ourselves and that near to his demise he sent me several folders containing old images of the historical sites saying he would like me to have them. Possibly because at the time he was involved in another project which he once asked me to contribute too, but I had to decline his request although if he asked for anthing I obliged him if at all possible. I have posted old stuff on here before, in particular over on the E4U site, but if people are interested I will try and put together some stuff on here.

Third photo, can't orientate myself what are the ruins in the back ground please?

Carrie I had always assumed it was the Ramesseum

[A-Four]

Third photo, can't orientate myself what are the ruins in the back ground please?

From the photograph Carrie, it was obviously taken inside Habou Temple, looking almost North. The ruins as you call them were part of the outer mud brick wall that surrounded this temple. Within the wall throughout, many dwellings were incorporated into it. In my own observations it was easy to realise these were not simply guard houses, a number of them had centre columns to support roofs, again all built within the wall.

To see the best remaining examples, come out of the temple but remain within the complex, ( in other words stay within the mud brick enclosure), now walk towards the back of the temple, you will now notice there is a once bricked-up gate way in the centre of the West facing wall, ( a sort of ancient tradesman's entrance). Climb up this area near the centre of this wall, and there, either side of the 'gateway' are what remains of the best examples.

In certain areas of the ancient perimeter mud brick wall around karnack Temple there are some brilliant examples, though I should warn you they are in an area that the authority's regard as seriously 'out of bounds' these days. They are much more well preserved than at Habou, simply for the reason that they are not exposed to that constant breeze, plus the strong winter winds from the Western Hills.

P.S.- the information attached to the photograph suggests the extent of the flood plane, that is correct. In the open air restaurant of the Marsan Hotel, there is a small gate that leads to the fields on eastern wall, before the High Dam was built, the flood plain reached to the very edge of this said gate.

[A-Four]

Third photo, can't orientate myself what are the ruins in the back ground please?

Carrie I had always assumed it was the Ramesseum[/quote]

Sorry Carrie, I thought you meant the immediate background. Yes this is Ramesseum, although the columns in the photograph appear to be going down hill towards the left, this effect has more to do with its constructed appearance , and not the surface it was built on.

[Who2]

What happened to all of Charlie's paintings...
No answer required as I already knew the answer.

So why ask the question if you know the answer?

Just pointing the finger....

[Who2]

We tried to do a deal on the Old Habu Hotel, but once again came up against ignorance which is often the case.
The legendary Blu Lotus Roof Bar with pretty stunning views was never to be, such is life & luck...

[Horus]

Carrie wrote:

Third photo, can't orientate myself what are the ruins in the back ground please?

I replied:

Carrie I had always assumed it was the Ramesseum

A4 wrote:

From the photograph Carrie, it was obviously taken inside Habou Temple, looking almost North. The ruins as you call them were part of the outer mud brick wall that surrounded this temple. Within the wall throughout, many dwellings were incorporated into it. In my own observations it was easy to realise these were not simply guard houses, a number of them had centre columns to support roofs, again all built within the wall.

To see the best remaining examples, come out of the temple but remain within the complex, ( in other words stay within the mud brick enclosure), now walk towards the back of the temple, you will now notice there is a once bricked-up gate way in the centre of the West facing wall, ( a sort of ancient tradesman's entrance). Climb up this area near the centre of this wall, and there, either side of the 'gateway' are what remains of the best examples.

In certain areas of the ancient perimeter mud brick wall around karnack Temple there are some brilliant examples, though I should warn you they are in an area that the authority's regard as seriously 'out of bounds' these days. They are much more well preserved than at Habou, simply for the reason that they are not exposed to that constant breeze, plus the strong winter winds from the Western Hills.

P.S.- the information attached to the photograph suggests the extent of the flood plane, that is correct. In the open air restaurant of the Marsan Hotel, there is a small gate that leads to the fields on eastern wall, before the High Dam was built, the flood plain reached to the very edge of this said gate.

A4 again wrote:

Sorry Carrie, I thought you meant the immediate background. Yes this is Ramesseum, although the columns in the photograph appear to be going down hill towards the left, this effect has more to do with its constructed appearance , and not the surface it was built on.

I had wondered why in A4s post he had thought it was a mud wall and not the Ramesseum as I did say "look at the ruins in the distance" and not the enclosure mud wall just behind. As to the sloping appearance of the columns, it is down to two factors, firstly there is a build up of sand and debris down the side of the hall of columns that hides the lower part of some columns and makes the ground level look curved. Secondly the last set of Columns and the row of four Osiris figures are each on a separate lower levels to the hall of columns, hence there are on staggered levels from front to back.
This can be seen better if you look at the first image in my second post of old images for the Ramesseum. viewtopic.php?f=4&t=37281