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The Temple of Mut in Asher: an Account of the Excavation of the Temple and of the Religious Representations and Objects found therein, as illustrating the History of Egypt and the main Religious Ideas of the Egyptians

1899; Nature Portfolio; Volume: 59; Issue: 1536 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1038/059530a0

1476-4687

Archaeology and Historical Studies

THE Egyptian goddess Mut was the wife of the god Atnen-Rā and the second member of the great Theban triad of deities, which consisted of herself, her spouse Amen-Rā and her son Chonsu, the god of the Moon. She symbolised nature and was regarded as the mother of all things, as indeed her name Mut, “the mother,” implies. Her temple at Karnak, situated in a district termed Asher by the ancient Egyptians, stood to the south-west of the great temple of Amen-Rā, to which it was connected by a long avenue of sphinxes. A little to the north-west stands the temple of Chonsu, her son, from which another avenue of sphinxes led to Luxor. Her temple is thus, with the exception of a small temple of Rameses III., the southernmost of those that form the Karnak group. Although in consequence of its ruined condition it, perhaps, receives little attention from the passing tourist, its importance has long been recognised, and it has been frequently studied and described. As Mariette pointed out, although its structure has suffered more than that of others at Karnak, its interest is considerable; for we have in it an entire temple, with its surrounding wall, its pylons, sphinxes and sanctuary, and its sacred lake, which encloses the temple on the south in the form of a great horse-shoe.