DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4142#0006
THE
TEMPLE OF DEER EL BAHAEI.
DESCRIPTION OF PLATES.
PLATE I.
PLANT OF THE NORTH-WESTERN END OF THE UPPER PLATFORM.
Situation and Extent.
This plate gives the plan of the north-west portion of
the Upper Platform of the temple of Deir el Bahari,
namely, that which lies between the northern cliffs
and the great wall forming the northern limit of the
Inner Court, and which communicates with the Court
by a door at either end of the wall. In this portion
are comprised the North-western Hall of Offerings,
the Altar Court with its Vestibule, and the Chapel of
Thothmes I. Plates ii. to xxiv. are also to be re-
ferred to the same section of the building. It was
to this point that our exploration was first directed,
with the view of ascertaining the extent and plan of
the temple on that side; and this group of chambers
was entirely cleared during the months of February
and March, 1893.
Excavation'.
The Altar Court with its Vestibule and the rock-
cut Chapel leading from it on the north constitute
a group of chambers distinct from the rest of the
temple. Little was known of them before the exca-
vations of 1893, for not even Mariette had made any
attempt to explore this part of the ruins, and in the
conjectural restoration, made for him by M. Brune, the
northern half of the Upper Platform is represented as
symmetrical with the southern. The debris of the cliff
rose 30 feet above the Alter, and when work was
begun, no idea could be formed of the character
and number of the chambers which might be found
beneath the mound sloping steeply to the middle of
the Inner Court. Indeed, as will be shown hereafter,
it is now practically certain that the greater part of
these chambers had been entirely hidden from view in
pre-Coptic times, a fortunate circumstance, to which
we owe the solitary preservation of a high altar of the
old worship in Egypt.
The mound was attacked from the south on
February 7th, 1893, and a cutting driven into it at a
level some 12 feet above the pavement of the Inner
Court. The northern wall of the Court, which we
found to have been largely reconstructed by the Copts,
and on which stood remains of their brickwork, was
first met with above the door leading to the Vestibule
of the Altar Court. By cutting a little lower, the
workmen cleared the top of the wall along its whole
length, and on the 13th the angle which it makes
with the North-western Hall of Offerings was laid
bare. Pushing on northwards, the excavators came
upon a " pocket " of fine Coptic ostraka, lying some
10 feet above the Altar, whose existence was then
little suspected, and thus gained additional proof that
a mound of lower altitude had covered the Inner
Court in Coptic times. Continual falls of rubbish
from the cliff, due largely to old tomb-excavations,
proved a great impediment to progress ; but by the
17th the rock-face was reached, and it was known
for certain where the limit of the temple lay on the
northern side.
TEMPLE OF DEER EL BAHAEI.
DESCRIPTION OF PLATES.
PLATE I.
PLANT OF THE NORTH-WESTERN END OF THE UPPER PLATFORM.
Situation and Extent.
This plate gives the plan of the north-west portion of
the Upper Platform of the temple of Deir el Bahari,
namely, that which lies between the northern cliffs
and the great wall forming the northern limit of the
Inner Court, and which communicates with the Court
by a door at either end of the wall. In this portion
are comprised the North-western Hall of Offerings,
the Altar Court with its Vestibule, and the Chapel of
Thothmes I. Plates ii. to xxiv. are also to be re-
ferred to the same section of the building. It was
to this point that our exploration was first directed,
with the view of ascertaining the extent and plan of
the temple on that side; and this group of chambers
was entirely cleared during the months of February
and March, 1893.
Excavation'.
The Altar Court with its Vestibule and the rock-
cut Chapel leading from it on the north constitute
a group of chambers distinct from the rest of the
temple. Little was known of them before the exca-
vations of 1893, for not even Mariette had made any
attempt to explore this part of the ruins, and in the
conjectural restoration, made for him by M. Brune, the
northern half of the Upper Platform is represented as
symmetrical with the southern. The debris of the cliff
rose 30 feet above the Alter, and when work was
begun, no idea could be formed of the character
and number of the chambers which might be found
beneath the mound sloping steeply to the middle of
the Inner Court. Indeed, as will be shown hereafter,
it is now practically certain that the greater part of
these chambers had been entirely hidden from view in
pre-Coptic times, a fortunate circumstance, to which
we owe the solitary preservation of a high altar of the
old worship in Egypt.
The mound was attacked from the south on
February 7th, 1893, and a cutting driven into it at a
level some 12 feet above the pavement of the Inner
Court. The northern wall of the Court, which we
found to have been largely reconstructed by the Copts,
and on which stood remains of their brickwork, was
first met with above the door leading to the Vestibule
of the Altar Court. By cutting a little lower, the
workmen cleared the top of the wall along its whole
length, and on the 13th the angle which it makes
with the North-western Hall of Offerings was laid
bare. Pushing on northwards, the excavators came
upon a " pocket " of fine Coptic ostraka, lying some
10 feet above the Altar, whose existence was then
little suspected, and thus gained additional proof that
a mound of lower altitude had covered the Inner
Court in Coptic times. Continual falls of rubbish
from the cliff, due largely to old tomb-excavations,
proved a great impediment to progress ; but by the
17th the rock-face was reached, and it was known
for certain where the limit of the temple lay on the
northern side.