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Abu Ghurab - temple of Niuserre

Site on the west bank of the Nile between Giza and Saqqara, originally known to travellers as the pyramid of Righa, although actually dominated by the remains of a sun temple erected by the Vth Dynasty king Niuserre Ini, whose pyramid stands short distance to the south at Abusir. The central feature of the temple was a large squat monument, the proportions of which were midway between a Benben stone and a true obelisk. Both the obelisk and the tapering platform on which it stood were masonry constructions rather then monolithic. In front of the monument is a large open court, and in the centre of this open area is a massive travertine altar comprising a disc surrounded on each side by four carved examples of the hierogliphic sign Htp (hotep = offering), giving the whole an unusual cruciform shape.  The entrance to the temple is linked with a  valley's temple by a covered causeway, like those connecting pyramids with their valley temples. On reaching the temple proper, the causeway becomes a corridor running down the east side of the courtyard and along the south side. This corridor, which contained reliefs of the Sed Festival, led to the room of the seasons and ended in a chapel decorated with scenes of the dedication of the temple.

 

ruins of temple from bird's view
 
Ołtarz solarny utworzony z hieroglifów Htp.
offering table from alabaster

 

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