This Should Not Be Next to the Great Pyramid of Egypt

Hello everybody and welcome to Ancient Architects. Please subscribe now for the latest ancient history news and independent research from around the world. Not everybody is aware that in the immediate vicinity of the Great Pyramid is a temple dedicated to the ancient Egyptian goddess Isis, first excavated by Auguste Mariette in 1858 and then again by George Reisner and also Selim Hassan in the early 20th century. The temple sits next to the Great Pyramid Satellite Pyramid of Hennetsen, the 2nd or 3rd wife of Khufu. The temple was originally a funerary chapel associated with this pyramid and its status as a temple dedicated to Isis wasn't established until the 18th dynasty or possibly as early as the Middle Kingdom. So although there is no evidence of an old Isis temple at Giza, we do know that in later times, Isis was worshipped here and that she was known as the Mistress or Lady of the Pyramid and was worshipped in such a way right up to the Roman period. The full name of the temple is Temple of Isis, Mistress of the Pyramid and there is evidence that the local cult of Isis also had its own priesthood. The temple is famous because of a specific archaeological find made inside it, the inventory stealer, which is dated to the 26th dynasty and as well as its claims about the origins of the Sphinx, it also claims that the Isis temple was found, apparently in ruins, by King Khufu of the Old Kingdom's 4th dynasty and was subsequently rebuilt by him. If this is the case and many Egyptologists question its credibility, it would mean that the Temple of Isis could possibly date back to the 3rd dynasty. It's likely that the priests of the Isis cult made these claims in order to give their new sanctuary a reputation of great age, when in fact we find no evidence of Old Kingdom origins. As Selim Hassan said, first it was dedicated to Isis, Mistress of the Pyramids, but as Khufu was the first king to build a pyramid in this district, it is difficult to see why the goddess should bear this title. Secondly, the fact that the cult chapel of Princess Hennetsen and some of the 4th dynasty mastabas had been usurped in its construction proves that the temple is later than the Old Kingdom. And for me, that's a key point. If the Isis temple overprints a number of 4th dynasty mastabas, as well as the chapel of Hennetsen, then it means the temple is later, likely 18th dynasty because of the archaeological finds found inside. These include faience rings of Amenhotep III, Tutankhamun, Ai and Horemheb, as well as Seti I and Ramesses II of the 19th dynasty. Hassan also believed its origins to be 18th dynasty, due to the popularity of Giza with the re-emergence of the Cult of the Sphinx. The title, Isis, Mistress of the Pyramid, is likely a confusion at the first part of the name of Princess Hennetsen, because Hennet means Mistress. And, according to Hassan, this led to later Egyptians identifying the princess with Isis. He believes the cult chapel of Hennetsen, the older structure the temple overprints, was repaired and enlarged in the early 18th dynasty and then it was turned into a temple of Isis. George Reisner believed that priests sold the 18th dynasty faience rings to pilgrims, the reason they were found inside the temple is because they were given as offerings inside. Another important Isis related 18th dynasty find at Giza is Stele C of Prince Amenhepet, a son of Amenhotep II, and the stele was found in Amenhotep's Sphinx temple. Amenhepet was an older brother of the future king Thutmose IV, and at the bottom of the stele, it shows the prince presenting offerings to Isis, who is enthroned in a shrine that has columns with lotus capitals. The columns in the Isis temple are apparently of a similar form to the scene on the stele, so this is likely a stylised historical scene of the Isis temple at Giza. On the stele it reads, The Mistress of the Gods, the only one in heaven without equal, the daughter of Artem. In front of the goddess it says, Isis the Great, the Divine Mother. At Giza, there are no other Isis related finds after the reign of Ramesses the Great of the 19th dynasty, and that's until King Sucenas of the 21st dynasty, who is believed to have enlarged the temple and repaired it, work that was then continued by his successor. In his book, Pyramids and Temples of Giza, Flinders Petrie talks of a scene found at the temple of a king making an offering to Osiris, and although badly decayed, the cartouche of Sucenas was legible. He was wearing the crown of Lower Egypt, and the character of the work was very much 21st dynasty. The next major phase of work at the Isis temple took place in the Saite period, the 26th dynasty, when Egypt experienced a revival of the old traditions as the kings of the time wished to bring back the power and prosperity of the golden era. At Giza, the kings did a huge amount of building work and likely altered or renovated many of the old kingdom structures, as well as creating their own, and one example is Campbell's Tomb, the deep pit just west of the Sphinx. There were also small Saite period burial pits that were found in some of the smaller chambers at the temple of Isis. In the Saite period, the temple was also extended eastwards, across the wide streets lying between the three satellite pyramids on the west side and the mastabas on the east. On the wall of what is known as room A is a 26th dynasty relief carving of a priest kneeling before Isis in the infant Horus, and the stonework is clearly influenced by the old kingdom style. The temple is also covered in edged graffiti mentioning the names of the famous 4th dynasty kings Khufu Djedefre, Kafre and Menkore, as well as graffiti from the priests of the cult of the Sphinx, which was known as Hemneta Horemakhet. Interestingly, there were old kingdom objects found inside as well, and this consisted of a number of statues which Dr Reisner assumed were brought to the temple to decorate it. There were also some small limestone sphinxes which could be 18th, 21st or 26th dynasty in origin. But of course the most famous and controversial find from the temple of Isis is what is known as the Inventory Stealer, which was discovered by August Mariette in the 19th century. It is called this because in the main, it is a list of the figures of the gods which Khufu was supposed to have found when he came to repair the temple of Isis in the 4th dynasty. The Inventory Stealer is highly controversial because it states that the Great Sphinx was already a monument before the reign of King Khufu, a monument that this king restored after the tail of the Sphinx Nemez Hedress was damaged by a thunderbolt. It also states that he built his pyramid next to the temple of Isis, indicating the Sphinx and the temple were both there before the Great Pyramid. Egyptologists don't take it seriously as an historical document, because it was created around 2000 years after the reign of King Khufu. But there could be some truth to it, because the tail of the Nemez Hedress of the Sphinx is no longer present, and this part of the Sphinx isn't a part that could easily be broken off, unless of course it was struck with a terrible force. Selim Hassan saw the scar on the back of the Sphinx where the tail of the Nemez Hedress once was, and there were also traces of mortar with which it was repaired. The measurements of this scar also match the measurements of the Hedress on the Inventory Stealer, and the damage could have been caused by a thunderbolt. Sadly, there is just no way to prove how old this damage is. In the 26th dynasty, there was a thriving cult of Khufu, and it's no surprise that he was associated with the Sphinx, as well as the Isis Temple. It was a way to tie the new kings with the old kingdom, to give them a direct link to these prosperous times. The Inventory Stealer could be based on an older document, but even if it was, it could have been drastically exaggerated and added to. We simply cannot know. We shouldn't simply discard the Inventory Stealer, but also we shouldn't solely rely on it when trying to prove any historical event or timeline of activity. Many kings from the Saite period showed great interest in Giza, but we don't know exactly who refurbished the Isis Temple. A granite statue of Samtik II was found at Giza, and there was a red and yellow Sphinx statue, having hawk's wings and plumage on its back, and that was inscribed with the name of King Apres. The family of Amasis, also known as Armos II, are buried around the Sphinx, and there are other finds relating to Amasis at Giza as well. These kings and many more would have had some input into the Temple of Isis and the renovation of Giza as a whole. We know that the worship of Isis, Mistress of the Pyramid, as well as the Sphinx Horomakhet, continued through the Saite period, not to mention the cults of the kings of the 4th dynasty. The Temple of Isis at Giza seems to have held high importance since the 18th dynasty, with finds from some of Egypt's most famous kings discovered at the site, including Ramesses the Great, Amenhotep II and Seti I. But there is no evidence for Old Kingdom origins, and there is no evidence to associate King Khufu with the worship of Isis at Giza. With all that said, and with all the excavations, papers and books written, there is one question concerning the Isis Temple that nobody seems to be asking. That is, why did the 18th dynasty kings of Egypt build a Temple of Isis here at this specific location, pretty much hidden between the satellite pyramids and mastabas, when there are many, far better sized to have chosen from, that would have given the temple more prominence? Its position says to me that the 18th dynasty kings associated Isis with the Great Pyramid itself, and I have to admit, I have a very poorly researched hypothesis, work very much in its infancy that might explain it. This is a diagram of the 5th hour of the Duat, or Realm of the Dead, taken from the tomb of Thutmose III. The 4th and 5th hours of this realm are known as Rostau, and in antiquity, Giza was also known as Rostau. But is Giza a manifestation of the mythical Rostau, or did the description of the mythical Rostau come from Giza, or are they actually unrelated and the names just coincidence? What we see here are two guardian-acre lions in the form of sphinxes, and the oval they are guarding is thought to be a cave or cavern, a representation of Sokar's underworld realm. We have Ra represented by a three-headed winged serpent, held by the falcon-headed Lord of the Underworld Sokar, a god who would eventually become absorbed into Osiris. Covering the cavern or possibly behind it, depending on how you view the perspective of the image, is a possible pyramid-like mound, and the head on top of mound is identified as Isis. This is noted in the associated text. So is this 18th Dynasty depiction of Rostau, the 5th hour of the Duat in Ancient Egyptian Mythology, mirrored on the ground at Giza, also known as Rostau. From my research, the walkway the Khafre Causeway is built upon is possibly the oldest feature at Giza, and it has the Great Sphinx, possibly an old-acre lion at one end. Along this causeway, we have an entrance into an ancient subterranean structure that is known as the Tomb of Osiris or the Osiris Shaft, and, as stated, Osiris was a god who absorbed Sokar in later history. Furthermore, when we view this landscape from the south, we see the towering Great Pyramid behind. Obviously, if the Thutmose III depiction of Rostau is mirrored in real life at Giza, then this picture is highly stylised. But, if there is any hint of truth in this idea, it may explain why the 18th Dynasty Egyptians built a temple dedicated to Isis right next to the Great Pyramid, because the large mound of the 5th hour of the Duat that covers the realm of Sokar is topped by the head of Isis. The Great Pyramid could be this mound. If this structure is a pyramid, then Isis is certainly portrayed as the mistress or lady of the pyramid. As the Crystal Links website says, in hour 5, he, the sun god, discovers the Tomb of Osiris, which is an enclosure beneath which is hidden a lake of fire. The tomb is covered by a pyramid-like mound, identified with the goddess Isis, and on top of which, Isis and Nephthys have alighted in the form of two kites, which are birds of prey. As I said, this is all just an idea, not well researched I admit that, but I thought I'd include this at the end of the video to generate discussion and to give us something else to think about. Maybe there once was a second Sphinx at Giza, located at the other end of the Khafre Causeway, but of course this is now long gone, and maybe the Giza landscape was a physical representation of the mythical Rostau. All we know for sure is that there was a temple of Isis built next to the Great Pyramid, and it was an important structure from the 18th dynasty, around 1500 BC, all the way up to the Romans, a structure that the Egyptians themselves said had origins back in the Old Kingdom. Is this because the Great Pyramid itself once had a ritualistic purpose connected to Isis, Sokar and the 5th hour of the Duat, or is it something else? Please leave your thoughts in the comments section below. Thank you very much for watching this episode of Ancient Architects, if you enjoyed the video, please subscribe to the channel, please like the video and please leave a comment below. Thank you very much.