THE SUN TEMPLE OF NIUSERRE AT ABU GURAB

The sun god Re rose to prominence in the Fourth Dynasty, a position he would continue to hold in the Middle and New Kingdoms. The cult of Re originated at Heliopolis on the east bank of the Nile (now in the northern suburbs of Cairo), but six of the kings of the Fifth Dynasty constructed special temples to Re on the west bank. The best preserved is that built by the pharaoh Niuserre at Abu Gurab, just north of Abu Sir where he and most kings of his line built their pyramids. The temple may have been constructed during the period 2430—2400 BC, but as with all Egyptian chronology, the dating is subject to controversy.

The Sun Temple of Niuserre contrasts with the funerary temples already discussed, and with the cult temples at Luxor and Karnak that will be examined in the next chapter. Worship of the sun god was typically done in the open air, not in the small dark rooms in which other gods were reverently housed.

The temple, constructed entirely of limestone, sits on an artificial mound, itself faced with limestone (Figure 5.16). From a pavilion lying to the east an enclosed causeway led to the temple. The temple consisted of an open-air court, 100.5m x 76.2m, oriented east-west in accordance with the path of the sun. The walls of the surrounding portico were decorated with painted reliefs depicting miscellaneous subjects, most not specifically illustrating the cult: the king at his sed-festival, the king trampling his enemies, various plants and animals, etc. Reliefs of the seasons may, however, relate to the life-giving force of the sun. In the west side of the open air

Figure 5.16 Sun Temple of Niuserre (reconstruction), from Abu Gurab

Court stood the great solar symbol, a squat obelisk built of limestone blocks set on a rectangular podium. The court also included an area for the slaughtering of animals, the sacrificial offerings; an altar, exposed to the sun; and storerooms. Directly outside the temple, to the south, a solar boat was erected, out of brick, oddly enough.

The word “obelisk” comes from Greek and means “little roasting-spit,” but the function was purely Egyptian. These pillars represented the first place the sun landed on earth. The original obelisk was the benben, “the radiant one,” a stone venerated at Heliopolis; it may have represented the first ray of light to touch the earth at the moment of creation. The obelisk that once stood at Abu Gurab imitated this prototype. Especially in the taller, elongated version current in the New Kingdom, the obelisk would become a distinctive element of ancient Egyptian architecture.

Although Re and obelisks continued in popularity, the Sun Temples as seen at Abu Gurab did not outlive the Fifth Dynasty. Of course, to construct such a temple in addition to a pyramid and its funerary temples must have been extremely expensive. Of greater significance may have been a shift in cult focus, with the increasing importance of the cult of Osiris, centered in Abydos.