DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4145#0009
THE
TEMPLE OF DBIE EL BAHARI
DESCRIPTION OF PLATES.
PLATES LXXXVII.-CVI.
THE SOUTHEKN SPEOS OE SHEINE OP HATHOE.
The access to the Hatlior Shrine consists of a Vestibule
and a Hypostyle Hall. The Vestibule had four rect-
angular pillars and round shafted columns without
any fluting. Their capitals were Hathor heads, sur-
mounted by a small shrine, giving them the form of a
sistrum. This form of capital differs from the style of
the Xllth Dynasty, such as is found at Bubastis, where
there is no shrine, only a row of uraei on the Hathor
heads. At Deir el Bahari the sides of the capitals are
ornamented ; below, among the hair of the heads, may
be seen a plant of papyrus, and above, an object which
varies, but which is sometimes a statuette in the form
of a mummy. (See pi. lxviii.)
We shall not enter now upon the difficult question of
the approach to the Hathor Shrine. It will be treated
in the architectural part. For the present it is suffi-
cient to say that there seems to have been direct access
to the shrine by means of a staircase, without going
through the temple.
Plate LXXXVIL—On the northern wall of the
Vestibule there are remains of a scene which we shall
find more complete in the Hypostyle Hall. The god-
dess Hathor, in the form of a cow, licks the hand of
a king whose cartouche is now that of Thothmes II.
Originally it was the queen, whose name has been erased
and replaced by that of her husband, as we shall fre-
quently see in the representations of the Hathor Shrine.
The Hypostyle Hall.
Plates LXXXVIII.— XCI—The Hypostyle Hall
had twelve columns, of so-called proto-doric style.
Between two of them, in the north-western corner,
was an untouched pit, in which we found three coffins
of the Saitic epoch, belonging to a priest of Menthu,
his mother, and his aunt.
Everything in the Vestibule and in the Hypostyle
Hall is connected with Hathor, who had her sanctuary
on this side of the temple, symmetrical to the Shrine
of Anubis. The inscription in the corner of the
northern wall records that the "King of Upper and
Lower Egypt made her monuments to her mother
Hathor, the lady of Thebes." The scene, which covers
the greatest part of the wall, has already been puh-
lished by Duemichen and Mariette. It is the intro-
duction of the goddess into the temple, but it is hardly
possible to distinguish between the goddess and the
queen. It is clear that this is intentional. Hatshepsu
wishes that the honours rendered to Hathor should be
rendered also to herself; she desires to rank among
the gods, to be venerated as a divinity, and her
first worshipper will be her nephew and associate,
Thothmes III. That she will even consider herself as
above the goddess is evident from the sculptures on
both sides of the entrance to the sanctuary, where
Hathor comes and licks her hand. Therefore we may
as well call this festival the installation of Hatshepsu
as goddess of the shrine, as that of Hathor.
The fragmentary state of most of the sculptures
makes it difficult to understand the real meaning of
the scene, which is divided into three rows of boats,
B
TEMPLE OF DBIE EL BAHARI
DESCRIPTION OF PLATES.
PLATES LXXXVII.-CVI.
THE SOUTHEKN SPEOS OE SHEINE OP HATHOE.
The access to the Hatlior Shrine consists of a Vestibule
and a Hypostyle Hall. The Vestibule had four rect-
angular pillars and round shafted columns without
any fluting. Their capitals were Hathor heads, sur-
mounted by a small shrine, giving them the form of a
sistrum. This form of capital differs from the style of
the Xllth Dynasty, such as is found at Bubastis, where
there is no shrine, only a row of uraei on the Hathor
heads. At Deir el Bahari the sides of the capitals are
ornamented ; below, among the hair of the heads, may
be seen a plant of papyrus, and above, an object which
varies, but which is sometimes a statuette in the form
of a mummy. (See pi. lxviii.)
We shall not enter now upon the difficult question of
the approach to the Hathor Shrine. It will be treated
in the architectural part. For the present it is suffi-
cient to say that there seems to have been direct access
to the shrine by means of a staircase, without going
through the temple.
Plate LXXXVIL—On the northern wall of the
Vestibule there are remains of a scene which we shall
find more complete in the Hypostyle Hall. The god-
dess Hathor, in the form of a cow, licks the hand of
a king whose cartouche is now that of Thothmes II.
Originally it was the queen, whose name has been erased
and replaced by that of her husband, as we shall fre-
quently see in the representations of the Hathor Shrine.
The Hypostyle Hall.
Plates LXXXVIII.— XCI—The Hypostyle Hall
had twelve columns, of so-called proto-doric style.
Between two of them, in the north-western corner,
was an untouched pit, in which we found three coffins
of the Saitic epoch, belonging to a priest of Menthu,
his mother, and his aunt.
Everything in the Vestibule and in the Hypostyle
Hall is connected with Hathor, who had her sanctuary
on this side of the temple, symmetrical to the Shrine
of Anubis. The inscription in the corner of the
northern wall records that the "King of Upper and
Lower Egypt made her monuments to her mother
Hathor, the lady of Thebes." The scene, which covers
the greatest part of the wall, has already been puh-
lished by Duemichen and Mariette. It is the intro-
duction of the goddess into the temple, but it is hardly
possible to distinguish between the goddess and the
queen. It is clear that this is intentional. Hatshepsu
wishes that the honours rendered to Hathor should be
rendered also to herself; she desires to rank among
the gods, to be venerated as a divinity, and her
first worshipper will be her nephew and associate,
Thothmes III. That she will even consider herself as
above the goddess is evident from the sculptures on
both sides of the entrance to the sanctuary, where
Hathor comes and licks her hand. Therefore we may
as well call this festival the installation of Hatshepsu
as goddess of the shrine, as that of Hathor.
The fragmentary state of most of the sculptures
makes it difficult to understand the real meaning of
the scene, which is divided into three rows of boats,
B