DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4146#0011
DE1E EL BATIAIU.
to be a window, approached by steps, and commanding
the passage between the two lines of columns of the
eastern range of the double colonnade.1
Excavation".
The southern side of the Upper Court as well as the
Sanctuary had been excavated when I began to work in
1893. J'art of it was already visible in Lepsius's time,
since he published a few pictures from the small room
in the south-western corner. Champollion had seen the
Sanctuary, Mariette began to excavate it, but left it
full of blocks which had fallen in from the ceiling.
As for the northern half, it was a huge mound
extending also over'the North-western Hall of Offerings
and the Altar Court; here and there a few Coptic con-
structions could be seen, made of bricks or of blocks
brought from various parts of the temple. During the
first season the top of the mound in the court was
cleared away, down to the height of the wall separating
the court from the altar. On this fiat surface the
railway was laid which was used for carrying away the
rubbish from the Altar Court. But in the autumn
of 1893, the first thing we did was to clear entirely
the northern half of the Upper Court, down to the
pavement. In the eastern part we came across what
was evidently the kitchen of the convent; a big terra-
cotta caldron stood there. The Coptic walls were
roughly built with blocks taken from the lower terrace,
among them a stone showing the point of an obelisk
lying on a boat; it was the first fragment discovered
of the transportation of the obelisks, which was one of
the most important scenes on the lower terrace. The
niches on that side were very much ruined; they all
contained pits from which the mummies had been
taken away, perhaps in the 18th century, since already
at that time the temple was known as one of the
most abundant mines of painted coffins, which were
dug out and sold by the natives. The excavation of
the Southern Hall of Offerings and of the open court
in front of it has already been described.
PLATES CXX. AND CXXT.
TUB DOORWAY.
%
Here we have the two sides of the granite doorway,
giving access to the Central Court. They were both
engraved with the same names, Hatshepsu and her
nephew, Thothmcs HI. The nephew, having a sub-
ordinate position under the rule of his aunt, appears
only on the lintel, the queen alone is mentioned on the
doorposts on both sides.
On the lintel of the outer face the two cartouches of
the queen have been erased, evidently by Amen-
ophis IV., who scratched out the name of Amon every-
where. When the restorations were made by Rameses
II., the name of Thothmes III. was inserted on the
lintel and on both doorposts; the lea name of the
queen was not scratched out, nor were the feminine
pronouns.
On the outer face of the lintel the inscriptions are
only the names of the two sovereigns. On the door-
1 This architectural description has been written by Mr. C. E.
Peers.
posts we read the following words : " the Horus, rich
in leas, the King of Upper and Lower Egypt, the
pious lord, Menkheper Ra [instead of Hatshepsu], she
made her monuments to her father Amon, the lord
of the thrones of the two lands, after she had made a
great doorway named Zesermennu Amon, of granite ;
she is living eternally." What she calls her monu-
ments are statues, tables of offerings, and the like,
dedicated to Amon, but inscribed with her name, so
that they are a record of what she has done. It
is probable that there were a great number of monu-
ments of various kinds in the Upper Court, especially
in the niches.
On the inner side the inscriptions of the lintel were
the names of Thothmes III. and of Hatshepsu. On
both faces of the doorway the name of the queen is on
the south side, which always has a kind of pre-
eminence over the north; on the doorposts the name
of the queen alone was inscribed.
to be a window, approached by steps, and commanding
the passage between the two lines of columns of the
eastern range of the double colonnade.1
Excavation".
The southern side of the Upper Court as well as the
Sanctuary had been excavated when I began to work in
1893. J'art of it was already visible in Lepsius's time,
since he published a few pictures from the small room
in the south-western corner. Champollion had seen the
Sanctuary, Mariette began to excavate it, but left it
full of blocks which had fallen in from the ceiling.
As for the northern half, it was a huge mound
extending also over'the North-western Hall of Offerings
and the Altar Court; here and there a few Coptic con-
structions could be seen, made of bricks or of blocks
brought from various parts of the temple. During the
first season the top of the mound in the court was
cleared away, down to the height of the wall separating
the court from the altar. On this fiat surface the
railway was laid which was used for carrying away the
rubbish from the Altar Court. But in the autumn
of 1893, the first thing we did was to clear entirely
the northern half of the Upper Court, down to the
pavement. In the eastern part we came across what
was evidently the kitchen of the convent; a big terra-
cotta caldron stood there. The Coptic walls were
roughly built with blocks taken from the lower terrace,
among them a stone showing the point of an obelisk
lying on a boat; it was the first fragment discovered
of the transportation of the obelisks, which was one of
the most important scenes on the lower terrace. The
niches on that side were very much ruined; they all
contained pits from which the mummies had been
taken away, perhaps in the 18th century, since already
at that time the temple was known as one of the
most abundant mines of painted coffins, which were
dug out and sold by the natives. The excavation of
the Southern Hall of Offerings and of the open court
in front of it has already been described.
PLATES CXX. AND CXXT.
TUB DOORWAY.
%
Here we have the two sides of the granite doorway,
giving access to the Central Court. They were both
engraved with the same names, Hatshepsu and her
nephew, Thothmcs HI. The nephew, having a sub-
ordinate position under the rule of his aunt, appears
only on the lintel, the queen alone is mentioned on the
doorposts on both sides.
On the lintel of the outer face the two cartouches of
the queen have been erased, evidently by Amen-
ophis IV., who scratched out the name of Amon every-
where. When the restorations were made by Rameses
II., the name of Thothmes III. was inserted on the
lintel and on both doorposts; the lea name of the
queen was not scratched out, nor were the feminine
pronouns.
On the outer face of the lintel the inscriptions are
only the names of the two sovereigns. On the door-
1 This architectural description has been written by Mr. C. E.
Peers.
posts we read the following words : " the Horus, rich
in leas, the King of Upper and Lower Egypt, the
pious lord, Menkheper Ra [instead of Hatshepsu], she
made her monuments to her father Amon, the lord
of the thrones of the two lands, after she had made a
great doorway named Zesermennu Amon, of granite ;
she is living eternally." What she calls her monu-
ments are statues, tables of offerings, and the like,
dedicated to Amon, but inscribed with her name, so
that they are a record of what she has done. It
is probable that there were a great number of monu-
ments of various kinds in the Upper Court, especially
in the niches.
On the inner side the inscriptions of the lintel were
the names of Thothmes III. and of Hatshepsu. On
both faces of the doorway the name of the queen is on
the south side, which always has a kind of pre-
eminence over the north; on the doorposts the name
of the queen alone was inscribed.