Temple of Seti I

Luxor West Bank - Temples

Temple of Seti I

The Temple of Seti I is the northernmost temple of Thebes, located right next to the road to the Valley of the Kings, towards the village of el-Tarif. Today the entrance is through a gate in the northern wall. The temple was begun by Seti I, who called it "Great Seti in the West of Thebes" and dedicated it to the god Amun-Re and to the cult of the divine Ramesses I.

After the death of Seti, the construction and decoration were completed by his son Ramesses II. Like many western temples, it saw much re-use after the New Kingdom, first in the Roman period, when it appears to have been an area where craftsmen worked, and later in the Coptic era, when parts of the temple were converted into a church and dwellings. From 1972 the German Archaeological Institute undertook investigation and restoration work.
Two great pylons were built of mud brick, and between them you can see a row of sphinxes set along the route leading through the courtyards. Little remains of the first pylon today, but two sphinxes are still visible through the main gate.

The second pylon is almost completely destroyed, probably because of the mud-brick construction and natural flooding during the inundation. The royal palace stood to the south of the first court and was the earliest example of a ritual palace attached to a temple.