DOI article:
Naville, Edouard: Egypt Exploration Fund, [6]: Excavations at Deir el Bahari
DOI Page / Citation link: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.10056#0014
2
Egypt Exploration Fund.
Like the lateral chambers at Denderah and Edfu, they may have been
intended as store-rooms for the incense and sacred oils, and for the
garments and numerous utensils necessary to performing the various
rites of the complicated Egyptian ritual. Or, like the court of the altar
of Harmakhis, they may have been sanctuaries dedicated to the cult of
divinities more especially worshipped in other parts of Egypt. But the
more plausible supposition is that they were meant to be funerary chapels
for members of the queen's family.
Again, the similarity of Deir el Bahari to a Greek temple is striking,
especially to the visitor coming from the Ramesseum when first he
catches sight of the long row of white columns at the base of the rock,
on the North side. This impression is borne out not only by the often-
noticed resemblance between the fluted columns of Hatshepsu and those
of the Doric order, but still more by a consideration of certain architec-
tural proportions, and of the relations between column and architrave.
At Deir el Bahari nothing is on a gigantic scale; and it seems to me
that when the Egyptians turned aside from the style which was here
applied so successfully, in favour of the massive architecture of Karnak
and Medinet Habu, they deviated from the path which would have led
them to elegance and preferred the majestic and the colossal.
In the course of this year's work we found many fragments of the
famous Punt sculptures, all emphasizing the African character of the
country in which the expedition landed, but testifying also to the fact
that the population of that country was not homogeneous. In addition
to the genuine Puntites, with aquiline features, pointed beards, and long
hair, there are also represented negroes of two different shades of
colour—brown and black. The native huts were apparently made of
wickerwork, and in front of one of them sits a big white dog with
pendant ears. Another dog of the same kind, and led by a string, is
being brought to the Egyptians. Birds with long beaks are seen flying
out of the trees from which men are gathering the incense, while the
nests which they have forsaken are robbed of their eggs either for food
or for some religious observance. Unfortunately these precious frag-
ments do not complete the missing scenes, of which the destruction must
not be attributed wholly to tourists and antiquity dealers : this work of
havoc was begun in ancient times.
The Hathor Shrine projects beyond the southern edge of the Middle
Platform. Parallel to the shrine a wall branched off at right angles to
the enclosure wall forming a small court already destroyed in the time
of the XXIst Dynasty. The corner of the wall alone remains. Our
Egypt Exploration Fund.
Like the lateral chambers at Denderah and Edfu, they may have been
intended as store-rooms for the incense and sacred oils, and for the
garments and numerous utensils necessary to performing the various
rites of the complicated Egyptian ritual. Or, like the court of the altar
of Harmakhis, they may have been sanctuaries dedicated to the cult of
divinities more especially worshipped in other parts of Egypt. But the
more plausible supposition is that they were meant to be funerary chapels
for members of the queen's family.
Again, the similarity of Deir el Bahari to a Greek temple is striking,
especially to the visitor coming from the Ramesseum when first he
catches sight of the long row of white columns at the base of the rock,
on the North side. This impression is borne out not only by the often-
noticed resemblance between the fluted columns of Hatshepsu and those
of the Doric order, but still more by a consideration of certain architec-
tural proportions, and of the relations between column and architrave.
At Deir el Bahari nothing is on a gigantic scale; and it seems to me
that when the Egyptians turned aside from the style which was here
applied so successfully, in favour of the massive architecture of Karnak
and Medinet Habu, they deviated from the path which would have led
them to elegance and preferred the majestic and the colossal.
In the course of this year's work we found many fragments of the
famous Punt sculptures, all emphasizing the African character of the
country in which the expedition landed, but testifying also to the fact
that the population of that country was not homogeneous. In addition
to the genuine Puntites, with aquiline features, pointed beards, and long
hair, there are also represented negroes of two different shades of
colour—brown and black. The native huts were apparently made of
wickerwork, and in front of one of them sits a big white dog with
pendant ears. Another dog of the same kind, and led by a string, is
being brought to the Egyptians. Birds with long beaks are seen flying
out of the trees from which men are gathering the incense, while the
nests which they have forsaken are robbed of their eggs either for food
or for some religious observance. Unfortunately these precious frag-
ments do not complete the missing scenes, of which the destruction must
not be attributed wholly to tourists and antiquity dealers : this work of
havoc was begun in ancient times.
The Hathor Shrine projects beyond the southern edge of the Middle
Platform. Parallel to the shrine a wall branched off at right angles to
the enclosure wall forming a small court already destroyed in the time
of the XXIst Dynasty. The corner of the wall alone remains. Our