DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4142#0012
ALTAR COURT.
in the time of Rameses II., the second erasure was
made good, but the figure and cartouche of the
queen were never restored. Of their original existence
we may, however, be certain, because of the adjectives
Ia T tu-t dnkh-t, " given life," which do not apply to any
of the gods. The restorers, omitting the figure of the
queen altogether, shifted Amon nearer to Horus, so
that the latter seems to place the •¥■ to the nose of
Amon. Both gods have their usual titles: Amon Ra
is called lord of the sky; Harmakhis is said to give
life, stability, and purity.
Plates VI. and VII.—Side Walls. The scenes on
the side walls of the niche corresponded to one
another in every particular. I have already said that
I believe such scenes to be purely fictitious. A priest
makes offerings to the lea of the queen, offerings which
never existed except in pictured similitude. Accord-
ing to Egyptian custom, a scene of this kind must be
in duplicate—one representation for the South (pi. vi.),
and one for the North (pi. vii.). In that of the South,
the queen, whose figure is completely erased, was
seated under the wings of the vulture J_ ^ J Nekhebt,
the vulture of the South. In the other scene Hat-
shepsu is under the protection of T M (1 <= Uazit, the
vulture of the North. The priest clad in a panther's
skin is the Anmutef, the funerary priest, and in con-
nection with him it is said :—
Vk-
rn
\21 ]
art suten fu liotep nab sep sen n suten
is made royal offering' pure pure to the king
The list of offerings, which is divided into twenty-
two compartments, is an abridged form of a longer
list, which can be traced as far back as the Old
Empire, and descended to Ptolemaic times. At
Deir el Bahari it follows a stereotyped and very
frequent form. Curiously enough, the same offering
occurs repeatedly, but not always as made in the same-
vessel ; it might even seem as though the vessel were
the actual offering, and not the substance it contained.
Water ~wv« mu occurs no less than five times. We-
have first one basin of water; further on in the
same line there are two basins. In the lower row
/wwvv '^S 73. mu tesherti, two red vases of water, occurs
twice ; and lastly two "~v^a mensa vases, which are of
a more elongated form, and which also held water, as
we know from other lists of offerings. The other
liquors are (1 Q ^ arp, wine, of which there is a
special kind called (1 _ "^ dip inch, wine of the
North, i.e., from the Delta. It is quite possible that,
the different vessels may in themselves have affected
their contents, even as wine is modified according as it
is bottled or left in cask. For instance, we have
hza, the —*— pasen, tepet,
heqet, a fermented drink, generally translated beer;
next to it is J3^ shepent, two jugs. Wherever the-
nature of the liquid which these two jugs contained
is indicated, it is always given as beer. There is an
abundance of cakes and loaves of different forms : the-
shdt, and
the very curious cake called o •K' ^ paz. It is.
round, and offered in two halves, ___ viaui, and
therefore, in other lists, it is often represented as cut
in two §. J c=f=s 3 bet is a kind of incense. As for
the meat offerings, they consist of ^* (1 o ur n
afu, much flesh, <£\ <=> ashevt, which Brugsch con-
siders to mean roasted meat, and ft "T* hun, which is.
also some kind of meat. I am in doubt as to the-
meaning of 1 ksq (^he wasp is polyphonous), and of
2k» aiir, which may be some sweetmeat or sweet
cake. CT ¥\ gp^ ha is a dressed goose.
plat:
THE
Architectural Description.—The altar stands in
the midst of a court. It is a rectangular structure
of fine white limestone, measuring about 16 feet by
13 feet, and is square with the walls of the court, the
shorter sides being placed north and south. At the
western end is a flight of ten steps leading to its
upper surface, which is 5 feet above the floor of the
court.
The altar is surmounted with a bold cornice, con-
sisting of a large bead or torus and a cavetto moulding,
E VIII.
ALTAE.
the upper surface of which is at the level, and forms,
part of the altar floor. A similar bead to that in the
cornice is worked on each external angle, running
into and mitreing with the cornice bead. On the-
upper surface of the remaining cornice stones are
three slightly incised parallel lines, the outer one-
3'25 inches from the edge, the second corresponding
approximately with the wall line below, and the
inner line marking a width of 7"25 inches with the-
outer one (see plan). This space has been slightly
in the time of Rameses II., the second erasure was
made good, but the figure and cartouche of the
queen were never restored. Of their original existence
we may, however, be certain, because of the adjectives
Ia T tu-t dnkh-t, " given life," which do not apply to any
of the gods. The restorers, omitting the figure of the
queen altogether, shifted Amon nearer to Horus, so
that the latter seems to place the •¥■ to the nose of
Amon. Both gods have their usual titles: Amon Ra
is called lord of the sky; Harmakhis is said to give
life, stability, and purity.
Plates VI. and VII.—Side Walls. The scenes on
the side walls of the niche corresponded to one
another in every particular. I have already said that
I believe such scenes to be purely fictitious. A priest
makes offerings to the lea of the queen, offerings which
never existed except in pictured similitude. Accord-
ing to Egyptian custom, a scene of this kind must be
in duplicate—one representation for the South (pi. vi.),
and one for the North (pi. vii.). In that of the South,
the queen, whose figure is completely erased, was
seated under the wings of the vulture J_ ^ J Nekhebt,
the vulture of the South. In the other scene Hat-
shepsu is under the protection of T M (1 <= Uazit, the
vulture of the North. The priest clad in a panther's
skin is the Anmutef, the funerary priest, and in con-
nection with him it is said :—
Vk-
rn
\21 ]
art suten fu liotep nab sep sen n suten
is made royal offering' pure pure to the king
The list of offerings, which is divided into twenty-
two compartments, is an abridged form of a longer
list, which can be traced as far back as the Old
Empire, and descended to Ptolemaic times. At
Deir el Bahari it follows a stereotyped and very
frequent form. Curiously enough, the same offering
occurs repeatedly, but not always as made in the same-
vessel ; it might even seem as though the vessel were
the actual offering, and not the substance it contained.
Water ~wv« mu occurs no less than five times. We-
have first one basin of water; further on in the
same line there are two basins. In the lower row
/wwvv '^S 73. mu tesherti, two red vases of water, occurs
twice ; and lastly two "~v^a mensa vases, which are of
a more elongated form, and which also held water, as
we know from other lists of offerings. The other
liquors are (1 Q ^ arp, wine, of which there is a
special kind called (1 _ "^ dip inch, wine of the
North, i.e., from the Delta. It is quite possible that,
the different vessels may in themselves have affected
their contents, even as wine is modified according as it
is bottled or left in cask. For instance, we have
hza, the —*— pasen, tepet,
heqet, a fermented drink, generally translated beer;
next to it is J3^ shepent, two jugs. Wherever the-
nature of the liquid which these two jugs contained
is indicated, it is always given as beer. There is an
abundance of cakes and loaves of different forms : the-
shdt, and
the very curious cake called o •K' ^ paz. It is.
round, and offered in two halves, ___ viaui, and
therefore, in other lists, it is often represented as cut
in two §. J c=f=s 3 bet is a kind of incense. As for
the meat offerings, they consist of ^* (1 o ur n
afu, much flesh, <£\ <=> ashevt, which Brugsch con-
siders to mean roasted meat, and ft "T* hun, which is.
also some kind of meat. I am in doubt as to the-
meaning of 1 ksq (^he wasp is polyphonous), and of
2k» aiir, which may be some sweetmeat or sweet
cake. CT ¥\ gp^ ha is a dressed goose.
plat:
THE
Architectural Description.—The altar stands in
the midst of a court. It is a rectangular structure
of fine white limestone, measuring about 16 feet by
13 feet, and is square with the walls of the court, the
shorter sides being placed north and south. At the
western end is a flight of ten steps leading to its
upper surface, which is 5 feet above the floor of the
court.
The altar is surmounted with a bold cornice, con-
sisting of a large bead or torus and a cavetto moulding,
E VIII.
ALTAE.
the upper surface of which is at the level, and forms,
part of the altar floor. A similar bead to that in the
cornice is worked on each external angle, running
into and mitreing with the cornice bead. On the-
upper surface of the remaining cornice stones are
three slightly incised parallel lines, the outer one-
3'25 inches from the edge, the second corresponding
approximately with the wall line below, and the
inner line marking a width of 7"25 inches with the-
outer one (see plan). This space has been slightly