DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4146#0012
THE EASTERN WALL OF THE COURT.
_«T "T£-
PLATES GXXH.-OXXVI.
THE EASTEEX WALL OF THE COUET.
These plates represent one of the most interesting-
scenes in the temple. It is all the more to be
regretted that the sculptures have been so much
destroyed by the erasures of the enemies of Anion and
of the queen, and also by the Copts, who have played
terrible havoc on these walls. The representations,
which are on both sides of the door, are symmetrical.
They both show a procession of four boats. The first
two are the towing boats with numerous oarsmen.
The third carries a colossus of Thothmes II. The
fourth, which is also towed, is the most destroyed ;
evidently it contained statues or emblems of Anion
and of the queen.
The few remaining fragments of inscriptions ex-
plain to us the nature of the festival sculptured on
the wall. The text on the doorway has given us its
names, Zeser mennu Amon. The word %r=J> has various
senses. I believe here the best translation is, " honour-
ing," "paying homage to," so that the door would be
the entrance to the court where the statues of Anion are
honoured ; the festival is called Zeseru mennu neter pen
nefer, "the honouring of the statues of this good god."
Judging from what we see, it seems probable that the
/ statues of Amon were brought from the other side, on
boats, and that they were the objects of some ritual
ceremonies performed in the Upper Court of the temple.
Of these ceremonies one was for the North and the
other for the South. It is, perhaps, owing to this that
the whole temple received the name Zeser Zeseru.
The last of the four boats carried the statue of the god
and also that of the queen, or the queen herself, or the
image of her lea, as we see on the boats represented on
a pylon built at Karnak. As the last boat is that of
\ the queen and Amon, it is the one which had to suffer
most grievously from Amenophis IV. and the enemies
of Hatshepsu.
Plate CXXII.—This is the part of the festival such
as is celebrated on the north side. We see first the
two towing-boats, both having about twenty oars on
each side. The oarsmen are standing, because they are
represented at the moment of landing. It is difficult
to distinguish whether each of these boats tows
separately one of the last two barges, or whether they
follow each other pulling the two barges together. I
should rather think, judging from what is seen in the
transportation of the obelisks, that each boat tows
separately, and that they follow each other in this way :
first the towing-boat with the barge of the statue, and
afterwards the other towing-boat with the barge of
Amon and the queen.
The blocks containing the first towing-boat are now
in the Berlin Museum, and have thus been rescued from
destruction ; the)' were brought by Lepsius, who saw
part of this wall, but could not reach the Altar Court
and its vestibule. On the forepart of the boat there is
a pavilion with an ornamentation, showing the king as
a bull treading his enemies under his feet. On both
sides of the bull are the cartouches of Thothmes II.
These may have been added afterwards, as was the case
with the inscription of the transportation of the obelisks.
On the next boat the cartouches near the gryphon are
blank. The inscription reads thus: "the landing in
the west with joy, all the land is delighted in this good
festival of the god (Amon). They rejoice, they raise
acclamations, and they praise the king, the lord of the
two lands."
Close by we find the following words : " Worship
given by the dancers of the barge of the king of
Upper Egypt, Aakheperen Ra [Thothmes II.], called the
duat taui; they say this is the happy festival of the
sovereign, in which Amon rises and increases the years
of his son, the king of Upper and Lower Egypt, Men-
kheper Ra [Thothmes III.], who sits on the throne of
Horus of the living, like Ra eternally."
We have already met with the dancers of the holy
boat. They are the men who as soon as the boat has
landed form the j>rocession (pll. XC. and XCI.) and
begin their choregraphic games. The qualification I ^ fi]j
<nven to Thothmes II. shows him to be the kin£ whose
statue is in the second boat. This statue with the
insignia of Osiris has the appearance of the statue of a
dead king. It is brought to take part in the festival,
like smaller statues carried by the priests, of which we
often see long processions. This time, as the statue
came by boat, it could not be carried. I do not
believe it to have been made of stone, otherwise it
would be on a larjrer boat and would be towed by a
_«T "T£-
PLATES GXXH.-OXXVI.
THE EASTEEX WALL OF THE COUET.
These plates represent one of the most interesting-
scenes in the temple. It is all the more to be
regretted that the sculptures have been so much
destroyed by the erasures of the enemies of Anion and
of the queen, and also by the Copts, who have played
terrible havoc on these walls. The representations,
which are on both sides of the door, are symmetrical.
They both show a procession of four boats. The first
two are the towing boats with numerous oarsmen.
The third carries a colossus of Thothmes II. The
fourth, which is also towed, is the most destroyed ;
evidently it contained statues or emblems of Anion
and of the queen.
The few remaining fragments of inscriptions ex-
plain to us the nature of the festival sculptured on
the wall. The text on the doorway has given us its
names, Zeser mennu Amon. The word %r=J> has various
senses. I believe here the best translation is, " honour-
ing," "paying homage to," so that the door would be
the entrance to the court where the statues of Anion are
honoured ; the festival is called Zeseru mennu neter pen
nefer, "the honouring of the statues of this good god."
Judging from what we see, it seems probable that the
/ statues of Amon were brought from the other side, on
boats, and that they were the objects of some ritual
ceremonies performed in the Upper Court of the temple.
Of these ceremonies one was for the North and the
other for the South. It is, perhaps, owing to this that
the whole temple received the name Zeser Zeseru.
The last of the four boats carried the statue of the god
and also that of the queen, or the queen herself, or the
image of her lea, as we see on the boats represented on
a pylon built at Karnak. As the last boat is that of
\ the queen and Amon, it is the one which had to suffer
most grievously from Amenophis IV. and the enemies
of Hatshepsu.
Plate CXXII.—This is the part of the festival such
as is celebrated on the north side. We see first the
two towing-boats, both having about twenty oars on
each side. The oarsmen are standing, because they are
represented at the moment of landing. It is difficult
to distinguish whether each of these boats tows
separately one of the last two barges, or whether they
follow each other pulling the two barges together. I
should rather think, judging from what is seen in the
transportation of the obelisks, that each boat tows
separately, and that they follow each other in this way :
first the towing-boat with the barge of the statue, and
afterwards the other towing-boat with the barge of
Amon and the queen.
The blocks containing the first towing-boat are now
in the Berlin Museum, and have thus been rescued from
destruction ; the)' were brought by Lepsius, who saw
part of this wall, but could not reach the Altar Court
and its vestibule. On the forepart of the boat there is
a pavilion with an ornamentation, showing the king as
a bull treading his enemies under his feet. On both
sides of the bull are the cartouches of Thothmes II.
These may have been added afterwards, as was the case
with the inscription of the transportation of the obelisks.
On the next boat the cartouches near the gryphon are
blank. The inscription reads thus: "the landing in
the west with joy, all the land is delighted in this good
festival of the god (Amon). They rejoice, they raise
acclamations, and they praise the king, the lord of the
two lands."
Close by we find the following words : " Worship
given by the dancers of the barge of the king of
Upper Egypt, Aakheperen Ra [Thothmes II.], called the
duat taui; they say this is the happy festival of the
sovereign, in which Amon rises and increases the years
of his son, the king of Upper and Lower Egypt, Men-
kheper Ra [Thothmes III.], who sits on the throne of
Horus of the living, like Ra eternally."
We have already met with the dancers of the holy
boat. They are the men who as soon as the boat has
landed form the j>rocession (pll. XC. and XCI.) and
begin their choregraphic games. The qualification I ^ fi]j
<nven to Thothmes II. shows him to be the kin£ whose
statue is in the second boat. This statue with the
insignia of Osiris has the appearance of the statue of a
dead king. It is brought to take part in the festival,
like smaller statues carried by the priests, of which we
often see long processions. This time, as the statue
came by boat, it could not be carried. I do not
believe it to have been made of stone, otherwise it
would be on a larjrer boat and would be towed by a