The North Gateway & The Building History of the Hall

At first glance, the north gateway of the Hypostyle Hall is not very impressive. It is much smaller than the grand entrance through the Second Pylon at the western end of the Hall.  The south gateway on the opposite side of the Hypostyle Hall is almost perfectly preserved.

The upper half of the north gateway is missing including the lintel.  The whole thing looks more like a gap in the north wall than a true gateway.  The inscriptions on the gate also seem uninteresting. They are the same as countless other religious scenes on the walls and columns inside the Hall. To most tourists, the gate is most significant as the best way to get to the war scenes of Seti I on the outer side of the north wall.

Some surprising discoveries turned up when we examined these inscriptions more closely. More importantly these new findings have given us a better  understanding of the history of the whole building.

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