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Historical Background |
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Seti I from the north interior wall of the Hall |
Built early in the Nineteenth Dynasty by Seti I (ruled c. 1291-1279 BCE), the Great Hypostyle Hall in Karnak Temple was finished by his son, Ramesses II (ruled c. 1279-1212 BCE). Constructed by the earliest kings of a new royal dynasty, a period of ultra-orthodoxy following in the wake of the "heresy" of the renegade pharaoh Akhenaten, the Hypostyle Hall is as much a political statement as an act of piety by these pharaohs. Generations of pharaohs left their mark on the Hall. Inscriptions were added and later pharaohs repaired damaged caused by The Hypostyle Hall remained in use down to the closing of the pagan temples in the fourth century AD/CE. |
