DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.9059#0169
THE TEMPLE OF DENDERAH. 155
a place of passage. Here it is that the king
prepares himself for those ceremonies which we
shall see him celebrating in the interior of the
edifice.
2. The second group is composed of the
chambers B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J and K. We
are" now in the temple properly so called. Here
all is closely shut in, all is sombre, all is silent.
It was in these ten chambers of the second
group that the priests assembled, and that the
preparations for the fetes were carried on. A
sort of calendar engraved on the walls of the
hall B tells us what was the nature of these
fetes. They consisted mostly in processions
which went round the temple, ascended the
terraces, and descended again in order to en-
compass the encircling wall, according to the
prescribed rites. Now it was from the hall B
that these processions started. The other
chambers served for the preparation of the
offerings destined to figure in the fetes, and also
as a place where the sacred emblems, carried in
state during the processions, were deposited
and carefully preserved. The halls C and D
were annexes of the hall B, and contained altars
before which certain prayer's were recited as the
a place of passage. Here it is that the king
prepares himself for those ceremonies which we
shall see him celebrating in the interior of the
edifice.
2. The second group is composed of the
chambers B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J and K. We
are" now in the temple properly so called. Here
all is closely shut in, all is sombre, all is silent.
It was in these ten chambers of the second
group that the priests assembled, and that the
preparations for the fetes were carried on. A
sort of calendar engraved on the walls of the
hall B tells us what was the nature of these
fetes. They consisted mostly in processions
which went round the temple, ascended the
terraces, and descended again in order to en-
compass the encircling wall, according to the
prescribed rites. Now it was from the hall B
that these processions started. The other
chambers served for the preparation of the
offerings destined to figure in the fetes, and also
as a place where the sacred emblems, carried in
state during the processions, were deposited
and carefully preserved. The halls C and D
were annexes of the hall B, and contained altars
before which certain prayer's were recited as the