Naville, Edouard: The temple of Deir el Bahari (Band 2): The Ebony shrine, northern half of the middle platform (London, 1896)

DEIR EL BAHARI.

customary in the Egyptian ritual, that the king should
bear these insignia when presenting the god with an
altar or a table covered with a huge pile of vegetable
and animal offerings (see pis. xiv., xvi., xxiv.). Above
the king's head are engraved the usual titles and
promises.

Next to the last-named scene, on the right, comes
an offering; of frankincense and cold water, A ii

art seneter qebh, " offering of incense and cold water."
The incense, which is one of the numerous kinds of
resins used by the Egyptians in their religious rites,
is represented as burning. The offering of water
consisted of sprinkling two altars placed before the
god with water poured from a tall and slender
vase.

Above is a scene somewhat obscure, the upper sign
of the explanatory text having been destroyed. The
king, who holds the ■¥- in his right hand, seems to
be addressing the god; at the same time he is said
to bring to Amon what is called | r-w-i J x neter
sheb, which may be either a food offering or a clepsydra.
Behind Amon we read the following promise : "I give
thee years eternal, U !>■ * 1T1 ma merer t n{a)
zetto, because of thy love to me eternally." Here
we have an instance of the erasure of the feminine
pronoun s=>.

In the last scene Thothmes II. is represented turn-

ing away from Amon Khem and going out. The
explanatory text reads : j\ ^ tf ant rat, " to bring
back the foot," i.e. to retrace one's steps. In his left
hand the king holds a long band, which we know
from other texts to have been called rQ <gv c ^
hat en. According to Brugsch's explanation, it was a
long strip of papyrus, stuck down the seam of the
door so that it should be closed hermetically.

Plate XXIX.—Leap ok the Door. The outer
surface has no sculptures, only cross-bars, likewise
of ebony, and the bronze rings for the bolt. On the
inner face are two scenes of offerings. Below the
king is represented wearing the head-dress of Upper
Egypt, and in the act of adoration : ] * .... neter tua
sep aft, "adoration (repeated) four times." We have
already seen the same act performed by Thothmes I.
(pi. ix.). In the erased inscription containing the
usual promises we can still trace the feminine pronoun

The upper scene represents the offering of the

white pointed loaf: |l__^ ^ n | A seq ta hez, "to

prepare the white loaf." A corresponding scene
occurs in the North-western Hall of Offerings (pi. xx.),
where the presentation is made by Hatshepsu. Here,
as in the former instance, the offering is brought to
Amon Khem.

PLATES XXX.-XXXII.

PLAN, ELEVATIONS, SECTIONS AND PERSPECTIVE VIEWS ; NORTHERN HALF OF MIDDLE PLATFORM.

Situation and Extent.

Plate XXX.—Plan, Elevations and Sections of
North-western Half of Middle Platform. This
plate gives the plan of the north-west portion of the
Middle Platform, namely, that part which lies between
the northern cliffs and the Central Causeway. Its
level is some twenty feet below that of the Upper
Platform. Here are comprised the northern half of
the Middle Colonnade, the Northern Speos with its
Hypostyle Hall and Chambers beyond, and the Northern
Colonnade. Plates xxxiii.-lv. are also to be referred
to the same section of the building.

Excavation.
The excavation and complete clearing of the
northern half of the Middle Platform was by far

the largest piece of work that had to be done in
the whole temple. It was begun on the 22nd of
March 1893, shortly before the end of the first
season. Four days only were given to it, but the
result enabled me to form an idea of what the
inscriptions were which covered the wall behind the
Middle Colonnade. During the whole of the next
season, from the 14th of December to the 14th of
March, a large body of men with tramways and
trucks were busy removing the mounds between the
Causeway and the cliff. A considerable mound, how-
ever, still remained, and nearly six weeks of the third
season were occupied in removing it. On the 17th of
January, 1895, the northern side of the platform was

1 Mariette, Abydos, i., p. 56.