Timeline&Temples
© Lucy Charlotte Acland Johnson
ARCHAIC PERIOD 3050-2686BC
OLD KINGDOM 2686-2181BC Some Pharaohs: Djoser, Khaefre, Userkaf, Niuserre, Pepi 1st, Pepi 2nd
FIRST INTERMEDIATE PERIOD 2182-2040BC
MIDDLE KINGDOM 2040-1782BC Some Pharaohs: Nebhepetre/Montuhotep, Amenemhat 1st, Sesostris 1st, Amenemhat 2nd, Sesostris 3rd, Amenemhat 3rd, Amenemhat 4th
SECOND INTERMEDIATE PERIOD 1782-1570BC
NEW KINGDOM 1570-1070BC Some Pharaohs: Amenophis 1st, Tuthmosis 1st, Tuthmosis 3rd, Hatshepsut, Amenhopis 3rd, Amenhopis 4th (Akhenaten), Tutankhamun, Horemheb, Seti 1st, Ramses 2nd, Seti 2nd, Ramses 3rd
THIRD INTERMEDIATE PERIOD 1070-664BC Some Pharaohs: Osorkon 1st, Osorkon 2nd
LATE PERIOD 664-332BC Some Pharaohs: Nectanebo 1st, Nectanebo 2nd
GRAECO-ROMAN PERIOD 332BC-AD394 Some Pharaohs: Phillip Arrhidaeus, Ptolemy 2nd-4th, Cleopatra 5th
Egyptian Temples fulfilled some of the roles, and were in some ways similar, to our places of worship today:
Cult temples were used for worship and also existed to house the deity they were built for. A statue of that deity would be kept in the sanctuary, at the very centre of the temple, where only important priests and the Pharaoh were entitled to go. Every day it would be washed and dressed, and three times a day offerings of food and incense would be place before it (usually at dawn, midday and dusk).
The temples were known as "hwt-ntr" (pronounced hout-ntoor), meaning "The god's mansion", and "pr-ntr" (pronounced purr-ntoor), meaning "god's house".
Another important and common type of temple was the Mortuary temple, which were built in honour of a dead king, to provide him with offerings of food and objects he might need in the afterlife, and so to ensure that he lived healthily. Much smaller and private versions of these temples could also be attached to individual tombs.
The priests who would carry out the offerings, or who were responsible for caring for the physical representation of the god, were not similar in their roles to priests of most modern religions. They had no contact with a congregation or public of any kind, and were not expected to understand or discuss religious ideas and beliefs. Their actions were not governed by one principal idea or set of commandments, either, they merely performed rituals passed on to them by the previous generation of holy men.
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