Medinet Habu

Massive mortuary temple of Ramses III, the best-preserved large temple on the West Bank

Medinet Habu is the mortuary temple of Ramses III, built in the 12th century BC on the southern edge of the West Bank. It is the most completely preserved large temple in Egypt outside Karnak, and for many visitors it is the surprise of the West Bank — overshadowed in reputation by the Valley of the Kings and the Temple of Hatshepsut but arguably more impressive as a standing monument.

The complex includes multiple courtyards, a royal palace attached to the main temple, a fortified gateway decorated with scenes of royal life, and walls covered in reliefs and inscriptions recording military campaigns and religious festivals. The second court, with its painted reliefs of the pharaoh before the gods, is in particularly good condition. Allow at least two hours. The site is large enough that it rarely feels crowded even in peak season, and the gateway provides shade for a welcome rest midway through.

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The outer walls of Medinet Habu are covered in military reliefs showing Ramses III's wars against the Sea Peoples — mysterious invaders from the north who attacked Egypt around 1175 BC. These are among the most important historical documents of the Bronze Age collapse, a period when the great civilisations of the eastern Mediterranean — the Hittites, the Mycenaean Greeks, the kingdoms of Cyprus and Canaan — all fell within a few decades. Egypt survived, but only barely.

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