On the edge of the desert in Waset, situated just to the north of the mortuary temple of Amenhotep III and to the south of the Ramesseum, is the mortuary temple of Merenptah, son of Ramses II and the fourth king of the Nineteenth Dynasty of the New Kingdom. Merenptah was the thirteenth son of Ramses II by his wife, Isetnofret, and ascended the throne upon his father's death. Because of the long reign of Ramses II, it is very possible that Merenptah was in his late fifties or early sixties when he became Pharaoh of Egypt and his reign only lasted ten years, from approximately 1212 bce to 1202 bce.

Merenptah's mortuary temple was first excavated in 1896 by W.M. Flinders Petrie. It was during these excavations that the discovery of the Victory Stela, alternately known as the Israel Stela, was found and it was revealed that the temple had been constructed using blocks, columns and statues from the mortuary temple of Amenhotep III. The dismantling of the temple of Amenhotep III for building materials was probably due to the lack of time in which Merenptah had to construct his own mortuary temple, considering his age when he became Pharaoh. Hewing stone from quarries and transporting the materials to the construction site would have taken precious time that Merenptah may not have felt he had.

The temple's design and layout followed along the same lines as the mortuary temple of Ramses II, albeit reduced in size to only a little over half of the size of the Ramesseum. When first built, there would have been two pylons standing at the front of the temple and beyond the pylons would have been the first courtyard or forecourt. This forecourt was colonnaded at its sides, with six columns each side, and a palace would have adjoined the southern wall. Proceeding through the forecourt, one would have entered the second court which held Osiride pillars at least on its inner side. Following the second court was a twelve-columned hypostle hall and just beyond that, a single eight-columned hall. At the rear of the temple stood the inner sanctuary and related chapels, including a court with a large sun altar. Outside of the temple structure itself were magazines and other mud-brick buildings as well as a small sacred lake which stood to the south within an extension of the compound.

During the nineteenth century, the mortuary temple was plundered in the search for limestone for lime kilns and sandstone for the extraction of saltpeter. Despite such plundering, many important remnants have been excavated including fragments revealing representations of a barque procession and scenes of sacrifices. There are also thousands of sandstone fragments from the walls of the rooms and the chapels which still bear traces of the paint used on them. In the temple's second courtyard, large pieces of colossal statue groups were discovered which represent the king accompanied by the gods. Originally these were statues belonging to the mortuary temple of Amenhotep III, but they were reused and had been re-inscribed with the name of Merenptah. Statues and blocks of limestone from the mortuary temple of Amenhotep III were also used in the foundation and because of this, managed to survive in good condition. Some of the blocks still depict colored reliefs and magnificent scenes of Amenhotep III's jubilee.

Among the items appropriated from Amenhotep III's temple was a large, black, granite stela, over ten feet high containing a record of the buildings of Amenhotep III. Merenptah erected this stela in his new temple with the Amenhotep III text facing the wall and had inscribed a hymn of victory over the Libyans on the remaining, blank side. This stela was discovered by Petrie in the first courtyard and is notable because it contains the earliest known reference to Israel. Because of this reference, this stela has become known as the 'Israel Stela' and it is dated to the third day of the third month of the third season which loosely equates to the summer of 1207 bce.

Below is an excerpt from this stela which contains the line referring to Israel:

The kings are overthrown, saying: "Salam!"
Not one holds up his head among the nine nations of the bow
Wasted is Tehenu
The Hittite Land is pacified,
Plundered is the Canaan, with every evil,
Carried off is Askalon,
Seized upon is Gezer,
Yenoam is made as a thing not existing.
Israel is desolated, her seed is not,
Palestine has become a [defenseless] widow for Egypt.
All land are united, they are pacified;
Every one that is turbulent is bound by king Merneptah

From A History of Ancient Egypt, James Henry Breasted

While Merenptah's dismantling and plundering of a predecessor's temple may seem unsavory, it was not unusual for the period and in fact, by his use of material from the mortuary temple of Amenhotep III in the foundations, he helped preserve a piece of the history of Egypt. In the end his own temple was plundered for far less grandiose reasons, but he is still honored by visitors to the remains of his temple and three thousand years later his name and place in Egypt's history is spoken of.

Sources
1. Weigall, Arthur A Guide to the Antiquities of Egypt, 1910, Random House, London
2. Breasted, James Henry A History of Egypt, 1909 Charles Scribner's Sons, New York
3. Clayton, Peter A. Chronicle of the Pharaohs, 1994, Thames & Hudson, London
4. Wilkinson, Richard H. The Complete Temples of Ancient Egypt, 2000, Thames & Hudson, New York
5. Schulz, Regine & Seidel, Matthias (editors) Egypt: The World of the Pharaohs, 1998, Konemann Verlagsgesellschaft

Image Credits
1. Layout of Merneptah's Mortuary Temple: The Complete Temples of Ancient Egypt - Richard H. Wilkinson
2. Image of the Victory Stela: Egypt: The World of the Pharaohs - Edited by Regine Schulz & Matthias Seidel
3. Image of modern excavations at Temple: Egypt: The World of the Pharaohs - Edited by Regine Schulz & Matthias Seidel