DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.5538#0290
270 PHARAOHS, FELLAHS, AND EXPLORERS.
measuring one hundred and nine feet in the shaft, without
counting the plinth. The one yet standing is, in fact, the
highest in the world ; the great obelisk brought from Egypt
to Rome in the reign of the Emperor Constantine, and now-
standing in front of the Church of Saint John Lateran, meas-
uring only one hundred and six feet.
One startling peculiarity in the inscriptions of Ilatasu,
not only upon her obelisks at Karnak, but upon the walls
of her temple at Dayr-el-Bahari, consists in the employment
of masculine titles with feminine pronouns. As hereditary
sovereign of Egypt, she was Pharaoh and King, head alike
of the sacerdotal and military castes. Hence, in one and
the same sentence, she appears as Ilon-f (His Majesty),
while the suffixes used in the grammatical construction are
feminine.
The broken obelisk differs from its fellow in no longer
bearing the name of Hatasu; Thothmes III. having, during
his own sole reign, erased her cartouches and substituted
his own. Yet, despite his usurpation, these sculptured frag-
ments are still the property of Ilatasu. In the bas-relief
groups wherein she is represented as performing acts of
worship before Amen, her spirited and characteristic profile
is preserved. The name may be the name of Thothmes, but
the face is the face of Ilatasu. If we turn back to the full-
face portrait of this queen, given in Lecture IV., and com-
pare it, feature by feature, with this profile, their identity
is at once recognizable. Even the little dimple in the chin.
which is so strongly marked in the front face, is carefully
indicated by a depression in the chin of the outline profile.
The most magnificent historic monument of the reign of
this great queen was, however, the temple which she con-
structed on the western bank of the Nile, nearly opposite
the Great Temple of Karnak. This superb structure is archi-
tecturally unlike any other temple in Egypt. It stands at
the far end of a deep bay, or natural amphitheatre, formed
by the steep limestone cliffs which divide the Valley of the
Tombs of the Kings from the Valley of the Nile. Ap-
measuring one hundred and nine feet in the shaft, without
counting the plinth. The one yet standing is, in fact, the
highest in the world ; the great obelisk brought from Egypt
to Rome in the reign of the Emperor Constantine, and now-
standing in front of the Church of Saint John Lateran, meas-
uring only one hundred and six feet.
One startling peculiarity in the inscriptions of Ilatasu,
not only upon her obelisks at Karnak, but upon the walls
of her temple at Dayr-el-Bahari, consists in the employment
of masculine titles with feminine pronouns. As hereditary
sovereign of Egypt, she was Pharaoh and King, head alike
of the sacerdotal and military castes. Hence, in one and
the same sentence, she appears as Ilon-f (His Majesty),
while the suffixes used in the grammatical construction are
feminine.
The broken obelisk differs from its fellow in no longer
bearing the name of Hatasu; Thothmes III. having, during
his own sole reign, erased her cartouches and substituted
his own. Yet, despite his usurpation, these sculptured frag-
ments are still the property of Ilatasu. In the bas-relief
groups wherein she is represented as performing acts of
worship before Amen, her spirited and characteristic profile
is preserved. The name may be the name of Thothmes, but
the face is the face of Ilatasu. If we turn back to the full-
face portrait of this queen, given in Lecture IV., and com-
pare it, feature by feature, with this profile, their identity
is at once recognizable. Even the little dimple in the chin.
which is so strongly marked in the front face, is carefully
indicated by a depression in the chin of the outline profile.
The most magnificent historic monument of the reign of
this great queen was, however, the temple which she con-
structed on the western bank of the Nile, nearly opposite
the Great Temple of Karnak. This superb structure is archi-
tecturally unlike any other temple in Egypt. It stands at
the far end of a deep bay, or natural amphitheatre, formed
by the steep limestone cliffs which divide the Valley of the
Tombs of the Kings from the Valley of the Nile. Ap-