DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4393#0156
138 A THOUSAND MILES UP THE NILE.
Khonsu (servant of Khonsu). He sits upon the ground,
bearded and robed, in an attitude of meditation. That he
was a man of unusual ability is shown by the inscriptions
engraved upon the back of the statue. These inscriptions
record his promotion, step by step, to the highest grade of
the hierarchy. Having obtained the dignity of high priest
and first prophet of Amen during the reign of Seti I,
he became chief architect of the Thebaid under
Barneses II, and received a royal commission to superin-
tend the embellishment of the temples. When Barneses
II "erected a monument to his divine father Amen Ba,"
the building thereof was executed under the direction of
Bak-en-Khonsu. Here the inscription, as translated by
M. Deveria, goes on to say that " he made the sacred
edifice in the upper gate of the abode of Amen.* He
erected obelisks of granite. He made golden flagstaffs.
He added very, very great colonnades."
M. Deveria suggests that the Temple of Gournah may
here be indicated; but to this it might be objected that
Gournah is situated in the lower and not the upper part of
Thebes; that at .Gournah there are no great colonnades
and no obelisks; and that, moreover, for some reason at
present unknown to us, the erection of obelisks seems to
have been wholly confined to the eastern bank of the Nile.
It is, however, possible that the works here enumerated
may not all have been executed for one and the same tem-
ple. The "sacred edifice in the upper gate of the abode
of Amen " might be the Temple of Luxor, which Barneses
did in fact adorn with the only obelisks we know to be
his in Thebes; the monument erected by him to his divine
father Amen (evidently a new structure) would scarcely
be any other than the Bamesseum; while the "very, very
great colonnades," which are expressly specified as addi-
tions, would seem as if they could only belong to the Hy-
postyle Hall of Karnak. The question is at all events in-
teresting; and it is pleasant to believe that in the Munich
statue we have not only a portrait of one who at Karnak
played the part of Michael Angelo to some foregone and
* i. e. Per Amen, or Pa-Amen; one of the ancient names of
Thebes, which was the city especially dedicated to Amen. Also Apt,
or Abot, or Apctou, by some ascribed to an Indo-Germanic root
signifying abode. Another name for Thebes, and probably the one
most in use, was Uas.
Khonsu (servant of Khonsu). He sits upon the ground,
bearded and robed, in an attitude of meditation. That he
was a man of unusual ability is shown by the inscriptions
engraved upon the back of the statue. These inscriptions
record his promotion, step by step, to the highest grade of
the hierarchy. Having obtained the dignity of high priest
and first prophet of Amen during the reign of Seti I,
he became chief architect of the Thebaid under
Barneses II, and received a royal commission to superin-
tend the embellishment of the temples. When Barneses
II "erected a monument to his divine father Amen Ba,"
the building thereof was executed under the direction of
Bak-en-Khonsu. Here the inscription, as translated by
M. Deveria, goes on to say that " he made the sacred
edifice in the upper gate of the abode of Amen.* He
erected obelisks of granite. He made golden flagstaffs.
He added very, very great colonnades."
M. Deveria suggests that the Temple of Gournah may
here be indicated; but to this it might be objected that
Gournah is situated in the lower and not the upper part of
Thebes; that at .Gournah there are no great colonnades
and no obelisks; and that, moreover, for some reason at
present unknown to us, the erection of obelisks seems to
have been wholly confined to the eastern bank of the Nile.
It is, however, possible that the works here enumerated
may not all have been executed for one and the same tem-
ple. The "sacred edifice in the upper gate of the abode
of Amen " might be the Temple of Luxor, which Barneses
did in fact adorn with the only obelisks we know to be
his in Thebes; the monument erected by him to his divine
father Amen (evidently a new structure) would scarcely
be any other than the Bamesseum; while the "very, very
great colonnades," which are expressly specified as addi-
tions, would seem as if they could only belong to the Hy-
postyle Hall of Karnak. The question is at all events in-
teresting; and it is pleasant to believe that in the Munich
statue we have not only a portrait of one who at Karnak
played the part of Michael Angelo to some foregone and
* i. e. Per Amen, or Pa-Amen; one of the ancient names of
Thebes, which was the city especially dedicated to Amen. Also Apt,
or Abot, or Apctou, by some ascribed to an Indo-Germanic root
signifying abode. Another name for Thebes, and probably the one
most in use, was Uas.