Mortuary temples (or funerary temples) were temples that were erected adjacent to, or in the vicinity of, royal tombs in Ancient Egypt. The temples were designed to commemorate the reign of the Pharaoh under whom they were constructed, as well as for use by the king's cult after death. Some refer to these temples as a cenotaph. These temples were also used to make sacrifices of food and animals. A mortuary temple is categorized as a monument. History Mortuary temples were built around pyramids in the Old Kingdom and Middle Kingdom. However, once the New Kingdom pharaohs began constructing tombs in the Valley of the Kings, they built their mortuary temples separately. These New Kingdom temples were called "mansions of millions of years" by the Egyptians. The mortuary temples were also used as a resting place for the boat of Amun at the time of the Beautiful Festival of the Valley, during which the cult statue of the deity visited the west bank of Thebes. It was a part of the king's job to ensure that these mortuary temples would be built for the gods. The Egyptian word for temple even means "god's house". The king wanted to build his mortuary temple so that he could continue to carry out his cult even after he died. Some of the first mortuary temples were built with mud, bricks, or reeds; these temples were discovered through artwork including pottery. Mortuary temples were not made out of stone until the age of the Middle Kingdom. The first mortuary temple was built for Amenhotep I of the 18th Dynasty during the New Kingdom. Several other rulers of this dynasty built temples for the same purpose, the best known being those at Deir el-Bahari, where Hatshepsut built beside the funerary temple of Mentuhotep II, and that of Amenhotep III, of which the only major extant remains are the Colossi of Memnon. The mortuary temple of Hatshesput was built around 1490 B.C. It is the only royal funerary temple from the time period to remain in good condition. Later rulers of the 18th Dynasty either failed to build here at all or, in the case of Tutankhamun, Ay, and Horemheb, their construction was not completed. The 19th Dynasty ruler Seti I constructed his mortuary temple at what is now known as Gurna. Part of his "Glorious temple of Seti Merenptah in the field of Amun which