NEW YORK HARBOR -  Visitors can step back in time at the newly opened Temple of Amun (http://slurl.com/secondlife/NEW%20YORK%20HARBOR/40/88/22 ). 

Tours are being offered every Saturday at 7 a.m. SLT by the Museum Director and real life Egyptologist, Jachmes Masala.  The tour takes approximately 1 ½ hours and is packed with information.

A local god of Thebes, Amun rose to prominence during Egypt’s New Kingdom (1539 – 1295 BC).  The temple complex at Karnak, located just north of present day Luxor, Egypt, underwent expansion and modification during the reign of Kings Amenophis III (1390-1352 BC) and Ramses II (1279-1213 BC).  In the Roman period, the temple was used as a military garrison.  The Temple of Amun in SL recreates the temple as it might have been during the time of Ramses II.

Statues of Ramses II stand guard over the entrance gate. A mural shows the battle of Qadesh, where Ramses II fought the Hittites.  It is believed that this was the largest chariot battle fought, with over 5,000 chariots in use to support the foot solders.

The first court contains 3 chambers that served as a chapel dedicated to god Amun, his wife Mut and Chons their son. This area would have been open to the public to do offerings. Only the priests could visit the sanctuary far inside this temple.

The pillars are meant to resemble papyrus and lotus plant bundles, plants growing near the banks of the Nile River. The floor is dark grey, layered with hard stone, to symbolize the soil of Egypt that produced the food.

“The oldest temples in Egypt were probably mobile tents,” Masala said.  “Later, they were transformed into buildings of stone with pillars for raising tents. They are meant to be the plants growing from the soil and they carry the sky.”

The middle hall was begun by Tutankhamun, the child king and completed by Horemheb or Ramses I.  Many columns make up this room. The ceiling is decorated with flying vultures, a goddess of the sky, as well as the night sky with stars.

“The Egyptians thought of the temple as a small universe in itself.  It was housing for the gods as a place in the middle of mankind,” Masala said.

The next court was built by Amenophis III, the grandfather of King Tut. It has not survived the weathers of time in real life, but it has been recreated in SL as it might have been originally. The area is filled with different types of offerings.  One area depicts a procession of priests carrying a god image