The temple of Ramesses II in Luxor

VISITING A TEMPLE AND FALLING OFF A DONKEY

The party remained in Luxor for six days. This is what Ida Uhse writes about the last day, when they visited the Temple of Ramesses II, but also had a bit of an adventure as the Countess fell off her donkey and got a nosebleed:
“15th of Jan. At 8am we again rowed across the Nile to ride to the Valley of the Kings, as we still had not seen tomb no. 17, that of Seti I. We first visited the Ramesseum, a large temple built by Ramesses II. At the entrance, there are two pylons, partially destroyed, but you can still see clear depictions of Ramesses’ wars. On the tower to the left of the entrance, you can see pictures of Syrian fortresses, which Ramesses had destroyed. In the large courtyard are shards of Ramesses II's statue, the extraordinary craftsmanship of which is still visible. The next courtyard is less decayed than the former; here we also see a ruined statue of Ramesses and fairly well-preserved rows of columns depicting scenes from the life of Ramesses.

The large hypostyle hall also has rows of columns covered with images, for example depicting Ramesses sacrificing to the gods. Last of all comes two smaller hypostyle halls. In the first, the well-preserved ceiling is held up by eight columns, the ceiling is decorated with astronomical motifs, constellations etc. The second has largely been destroyed and is less interesting.