DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4145#0014
DEIR EL BAHARt
w*
The Inner Sanctuary.
Plate CV.—Here the Hathor cow seems to have been
fixed on a stone base. Under her head is Anion, and
again she suckles the little boy who is distinctly said
to be the queen. " Hathor of the sacred cows " speaks
thus to the queen:
" My daughter beloved, Kamaka, I am thy mother, creator of
thy person. I have suckled thee to have the rights of
Horus, the royal power of South and North. I will give
thee years eternal."
The queen, kneeling, offers to the goddess two vases of
milk, and behind her Thothmes III. brings wine.
Under the queen opens a small niche, which I
presume contained part of the sacred furniture of the
sanctuary.
Plate CVI.—Hatshepsu, with the double crown,
stands between Anion and Hathor. The god says to
her : " I will give thee millions of years shining in the
place of Hathor of all the living, joyous like Ka,
eternally." And Hathor is quite as generous: "I
shall henceforth protect thee : all life and happiness, all
health will be granted to the daughter of my loins,
Ramaka, according to the command of her father
Ra."
I believe that these two sanctuaries cut in the rock,
which originally may have been a cave, were con-
sidered as the place where Hathor was supposed to
have suckled Hatshepsu. They corresponded to the
" nest of Khebt," where the goddess had done the same
to Horus. Afterwards, the grateful daughter enlarged
the cave, added colonnades, adorned it with sculptures,
and made the beautiful shrine which is part of her
temple.
PLATES CVII.-CXVIII.
THE SOUTHERN HALL OF OFFERINGS.
One of the most extensive halls of the temple, which
more than any other marks the funerary character
of the whole building, is on the upper platform, on the
southern side, where it occupies a space symmetrical to
the altar court. This hall had been already excavated
by Mariette, and Duemichen has published part of the
sculptures.
It is probable that it was used by the Coptic monks
as one of the chief chapels of their convent; the altar
seems to have been placed in a kind of recess, cut out
of the wall on the northern side ; and as the place
was considered particularly holy, the vestibule giving
access to it was chosen by the monks as a burial place.
In the corners of this vestibule were some rectangular
constructions in crude brick, which at first sight looked
like beds or seats. They were graves ; each of them
contained several Coptic mummies, without ornament
or painting, some of which had to be reburied at once.
They generally had a leather apron and a leather belt
on the body.
In order to hide the sculptures, the Copts covered
part of the walls with white plaster ; and they rubbed
off so completely the inscription of the grand stele at
the end of the hall, that not one sign of it is visible.
Part of the ceiling has been preserved. As in most of
the other rooms, it is constructed on the principle of the
false arch, horizontal stones overlapping each other, and
projecting towards the middle until they meet; after
which the angles are hewn away, so as to give a curve
to the ceiling. In this case the arch is not pointed, as
in some of the smaller rooms; it is rounded like a
regular arch.
This hall was above all others considered as the Hall of
Offerings to the queen, in which the funerary rites were
performed, such as we see them in the tombs of nearly
all epochs, in a more or less abridged form. Here we
have all the animals, vegetables, incense, garments
brought to the deceased in an abundance proportioned
to her high rank. The religious texts which accompany
them are most archaic; they are already found in the
Pyramids, where they are also connected with the offer-
ings and with a long list engraved on both sides of
Hatshepsu's Hall. A stele of the Xllth Dynasty gives
a title to these texts : they are called the chapter " of
providing abundantly for the table."
The two long sides of the hall arc nearly similar.
Texts and lists are absolutely the same ; slight differ-
ences exist only in the number of priests and in the
objects they carry. The southern wall was more com-
plete in one respiect. It had the Anmutef, the jn-iest who
f\
w*
The Inner Sanctuary.
Plate CV.—Here the Hathor cow seems to have been
fixed on a stone base. Under her head is Anion, and
again she suckles the little boy who is distinctly said
to be the queen. " Hathor of the sacred cows " speaks
thus to the queen:
" My daughter beloved, Kamaka, I am thy mother, creator of
thy person. I have suckled thee to have the rights of
Horus, the royal power of South and North. I will give
thee years eternal."
The queen, kneeling, offers to the goddess two vases of
milk, and behind her Thothmes III. brings wine.
Under the queen opens a small niche, which I
presume contained part of the sacred furniture of the
sanctuary.
Plate CVI.—Hatshepsu, with the double crown,
stands between Anion and Hathor. The god says to
her : " I will give thee millions of years shining in the
place of Hathor of all the living, joyous like Ka,
eternally." And Hathor is quite as generous: "I
shall henceforth protect thee : all life and happiness, all
health will be granted to the daughter of my loins,
Ramaka, according to the command of her father
Ra."
I believe that these two sanctuaries cut in the rock,
which originally may have been a cave, were con-
sidered as the place where Hathor was supposed to
have suckled Hatshepsu. They corresponded to the
" nest of Khebt," where the goddess had done the same
to Horus. Afterwards, the grateful daughter enlarged
the cave, added colonnades, adorned it with sculptures,
and made the beautiful shrine which is part of her
temple.
PLATES CVII.-CXVIII.
THE SOUTHERN HALL OF OFFERINGS.
One of the most extensive halls of the temple, which
more than any other marks the funerary character
of the whole building, is on the upper platform, on the
southern side, where it occupies a space symmetrical to
the altar court. This hall had been already excavated
by Mariette, and Duemichen has published part of the
sculptures.
It is probable that it was used by the Coptic monks
as one of the chief chapels of their convent; the altar
seems to have been placed in a kind of recess, cut out
of the wall on the northern side ; and as the place
was considered particularly holy, the vestibule giving
access to it was chosen by the monks as a burial place.
In the corners of this vestibule were some rectangular
constructions in crude brick, which at first sight looked
like beds or seats. They were graves ; each of them
contained several Coptic mummies, without ornament
or painting, some of which had to be reburied at once.
They generally had a leather apron and a leather belt
on the body.
In order to hide the sculptures, the Copts covered
part of the walls with white plaster ; and they rubbed
off so completely the inscription of the grand stele at
the end of the hall, that not one sign of it is visible.
Part of the ceiling has been preserved. As in most of
the other rooms, it is constructed on the principle of the
false arch, horizontal stones overlapping each other, and
projecting towards the middle until they meet; after
which the angles are hewn away, so as to give a curve
to the ceiling. In this case the arch is not pointed, as
in some of the smaller rooms; it is rounded like a
regular arch.
This hall was above all others considered as the Hall of
Offerings to the queen, in which the funerary rites were
performed, such as we see them in the tombs of nearly
all epochs, in a more or less abridged form. Here we
have all the animals, vegetables, incense, garments
brought to the deceased in an abundance proportioned
to her high rank. The religious texts which accompany
them are most archaic; they are already found in the
Pyramids, where they are also connected with the offer-
ings and with a long list engraved on both sides of
Hatshepsu's Hall. A stele of the Xllth Dynasty gives
a title to these texts : they are called the chapter " of
providing abundantly for the table."
The two long sides of the hall arc nearly similar.
Texts and lists are absolutely the same ; slight differ-
ences exist only in the number of priests and in the
objects they carry. The southern wall was more com-
plete in one respiect. It had the Anmutef, the jn-iest who
f\