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Unas was the last pharaoh of the 5th Dynasty and ruled for 31 years, from 2375 until 2345 BCE.THE VALLEY TEMPLE OF UNASIt is surprising to see how almost every tourist bus just passes the Valley Temple of Unas; perhaps it lies too close to the ticket office to appear as anything but unimportant? But after travelling up and down the pyramid belt of Egypt, how many Valley Temples have you seen?
Most pyramids had a valley temple, a place where boats could arrive, usually from an artificial bay in from the Nile, sometimes directly to the Nile. Statues were loaded on to the temple grounds, people embarked and ceremonies could be performed. The most important ritual of all was of course the burial of the king, when his mummy was transported from the eastern side to the western side the Nile, but annual rituals took place to commemorate the late king.
Unas Valley Temple is partly in good condition. Most columns are gone, but the platform and the stairways are almost completely intact. Unfortunately, the causeway between the pyramid and the Valley Temple is gone here below, but in good condition further up.Passing through the pink granite gateway that bears the name and title of Teti, one first enters the alabaster paved entrance hall. Here, one finds relief scenes depicting offering goods being delivered. After the entrance hall is the open courtyard. The ambulatory was supported by eighteen pink granite columns shaped as palms. These columns are no longer here, but some have survived by being reused in the Delta at modern Tanis, and in the Louvre and British Museums. Many of the reliefs are also gone, at least one showing up in Amenemhet I's pyramid complex in Lisht. To either side of the entrance hall and courtyard are storage annexes, where in the Late Period, large shaft tombs were also dug.Unas had a long reign, perhaps as long as thirty years. Therefore, he had time to build a larger pyramid, but we believe that it was probably a time of decreasing wealth, so he limited the size of this building project. Around the whole pyramid, and a smaller cult pyramid, there was once a massive stone wall that was at least seven meters high. The core of the pyramid consists of six layers, with rough blocks of local limestone decreasing in size as the builders reached the top layer. The casing was of fine, white limestone, some of which remains on the very lowest levels. The plan of the substructure, as well as Unas' mortuary temple, is very similar to the Djedkare complex, with the original entrance under the north chapel.The north chapel is now all but gone. It is a single room, and on its south wall next to the pyramid itself, there was an altar shaped in the hieroglyphic sign for a hetep (offering table). Behind the altar was a stela.Inside, there are corridors leading to an antechamber and burial chamber, both of which originally had gabled ceilings. Corridors, the antechamber and burial chamber all painted on their ceilings yellow stars on a blue background. In both of the chambers, the Pyramid Text was written in bas-relief painted in a blue green on all but the west wall of the burial chamber. This color signifies the morning and the belief in rebirth. The west wall of the burial chamber was coated with a layer of alabaster that was painted white, black, yellow, blue and red, the five colors of the royal palace facade.West wall of the Unas Antechamber wall. If you look closely you can see the sarcophagus through the passage!The gable of the west wall of the antechamber."Unas appears as Nefertum, the lotus at the nose of Re, as he comes out of the Horizon every day, and at the sight of which the gods purify themselves." - Utterance 249.The western wall of the Sarcophagus chamber. Note the patterned area on the three walls surrounding the sarcophagus."A face falls on a face, a face has seen a face. The mottled knife, black and green, went forth against it. It has swallowed that which it tasted." - Utterance 228.Little was found within the pyramid. There was once a canopic chest in the floor on the southeast corner of the sarcophagus. Bits and pieces of the king's mummy was found and parts of two small knives used during the Opening of the Mouth ceremony.The causeway of Unas is 750 metres long, ending in the Valley Temple which can be seen across the road from the ticket office.
In its original state, the causeway was roofed and had walls that were decorated by painted reliefs. The best of these is today found in the Louvre in Paris, EU.
The boat pits are quite impressive here, not just long and deep holes in the ground, but made by excellently carved stones. It is in this case doubted whether they contained boats at all, since no trace have been found in excavations. They may have merely symbolized the holy boats.THIS IS THE GRAVE ROBBER WHO ROBBED UNAS SITE!.. fantasy layout powered by HOT FreeLayouts.com / unas..
