Medinet Habu

Ramesses III built his mortuary temple in the twelfth century BC inside a fortified enclosure with a gatehouse modelled on a Syrian fortress, and the whole complex survived better than almost any other on the west bank because a Coptic town later occupied it and buried the lower walls. The result is a temple with much of its original colour still on the columns and ceilings, and with relief carving cut so deeply into the outer walls that the shadows read clearly at any hour. Those outer reliefs record his campaigns against the Sea Peoples in enormous detail, including naval battle scenes and long lines of prisoners. The enclosure also holds earlier chapels of the God's Wives of Amun and the remains of the Coptic settlement.

What you actually see

• Deeply cut battle reliefs - the Sea Peoples campaigns on the outer walls.
• Surviving paint - colour on columns and ceilings in the inner halls.
• The fortified gatehouse - a migdol tower modelled on Syrian forts.
• Chapels of the God's Wives - earlier structures inside the enclosure.

When to go

October to April. Late afternoon light on the western walls is exceptional and the site is quieter then, since most groups come in the morning. Two to three hours.

Honest expectations

It is a large site with a lot of walking and limited shade. Groups arrive in waves and fill the first courts. The Coptic town that preserved the walls was cleared, which is a loss of its own. Some inner rooms are dark and a torch helps.

Nearby

The Valley of the Queens is west; Deir el-Medina and the Ramesseum lie north.