Latest / Ramses the Great: Egypt's Most Powerful Pharaoh — Fexingo History / Ramses II's Building Boom: The Great Hypostyle Hall
Transcript
- Lucas: So we've talked a lot about Ramses the Great's battles, his wives, his scribes, his city. But there's one thing that defined his reign more than anything else, and we haven't really dug into it yet. Luna: What's that? Lucas: His building program. I mean, this is the guy who put his name on more monuments than almost any other pharaoh. And at the heart of it all is the Great Hypostyle Hall at Karnak. You've seen pictures of it, right? Those massive columns like a forest of stone. Luna: Oh, yeah. Those are the ones that look like they could hold up the sky. Lucas: Exactly. And they were meant to. The hall was built to impress, to make you feel tiny and insignificant in the presence of the divine. But here's the thing — Ramses didn't actually start it. His father, Seti I, laid the foundations. Ramses completed it, and he made sure everyone knew it. Luna: So he took credit for his dad's work? Lucas: Sort of, but it's more nuanced. Seti began the hall, but it was Ramses who finished it, and he added his own decorative program. He had his name carved prominently, of course, but he also showed respect to his father in some of the reliefs. It's a mix of filial piety and self-promotion. Luna: That sounds very Ramses. Lucas: It really is. The hall itself is enormous — 134 columns in 16 rows. The central aisle has twelve columns that are about 21 meters tall, with capitals that could hold fifty people standing on them. The whole thing is like a stone grove, and the ceiling blocks above them would have been painted blue with stars, so you'd feel like you were standing under the night sky. Luna: That must have been breathtaking. Lucas: And the reliefs on the walls tell the story of his reign. One of the most famous is the battle of Kadesh, which we've talked about. But there are also scenes of Ramses offering to the gods, and festival processions. It's all propaganda, but it's also a record of his world.