Matariya 2016: Ramesside dynasties at Heliopolis Long known, but never systematically excavated until some years ago, the main temple of Heliopolis is beginning to reveal new information. Aiman Ashmawy and Dietrich Raue summarise the findings of the past seven seasons. Plenty of evidence for Ramesside activities in the temple of Heliopolis has been uncovered since the excavations of the EES in 1911. Previously, only displaced objects in Alexandria, Rome and Florence had been testimony of their buildings. The provenance of most monuments was unfortunately never recorded. The work of the late Abd el-Aziz Saleh at Tell Hisn, on the other hand, brought to light important monuments and buildings, such as the administrative building of the high-priest and son of Ramesses IX (1129–1111 BC), Nebmaatra, but they were located in the northern extension of the temple. The column of Merenptah, too, commemorating the victory over Libyan tribes, was found north of the internal enclosure wall. Since 2012, the joint mission of the Ministry of State for Antiquities, the University of Leipzig and the University of Applied Sciences Mainz at Matariya/Heliopolis has been focusing on the main temple, which for many reasons has never been systematically excavated before. Seven seasons later, and especially after the discoveries made in autumn 2016, we have a clearer idea of the various activities of the Ramesside kings, especially of Ramesses II (1279–1213 BC). The first temple (area 200–203) was located close to the western main entrance (see the map opposite). It is nowadays known as ‘Suq el-Khamis’ and the mission reported on this sanctuary in Egyptian Archaeology 46. At the time of its construction, Ramesses II made ex tensive use of statuar y of the Middle Kingdom and of talatat blocks. It seems plausible to suggest that a temple of the Amarna Period might have been erected on the same spot.
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This temple of Ramesses II had a hypostyle hall with (probably a central aisle of) columns of red granite, like the one attested for the main temple of Ptah in Mitrahina/Memphis. Their inscriptions mention Atum. At least one red-granite colossus of 5–6 m height stood, like its counterparts in Memphis, in front of a main access paved with basalt slabs. The royal statues in the front part of the temple mention Ra-Horakhty and one group of statues represents Ramesses II with Isis. The mission found the pylon of the temple (opposite page, bottom), and additions made by Ramesses IV (1155–1149 BC), found in many places in Matariya close to the texts of Ramesses II, are present on the outer face of the temple wall (see p. 18, top). Other architectural elements, like limestone lintels and doorjambs as well as a column with the lower part of a palm-leaf capital, point to administrative units built west of the temple proper. Elements of a sunsanctuary were discovered at the south-western end of the temple. At this spot, a life-size statue of Seti II was discovered 30 years ago. Along the central west-east axis of the temple, a second temple of Ramesses II was discovered south of the recently built youth club of Matariya. Located about 400 m west of the obelisk, its front was equipped with at least one colossus made of silicified sandstone. Its fragments may well be compared to the statues from the façade of the main temple of Piramesse found in Tanis. Smaller examples of divine and royal statues were placed in the courtyards, where we discovered a fragment of reworked sculpture of a deity, its beard having been removed later in antiquity (image p. 19).