DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4146#0017
DEIE EL BAHAR1.
and have to be consecrated. For this the king touches
them with the long stick which he holds in his right
hand. Sometimes this stick is a mace, and other texts
show us that he has to do it four times.
The niches which are found in other parts of the
temple, such as the Altar Court or its vestibule, were
decorated in the same manner (Vol. I., pll. III., V., VI.,
VII.). On the end wall stood the queen between a
god and goddess, who are not the same in all the
niches. On the side walls the queen is seen seated
before an altar of offerings dedicated to her by the
priest Anmutef. In the niches of the Upper Court
there is a slight difference, the queen being generally
assimilated to a king; she is seen only on the end
wall and on one of the sides. The other side is occu-
pied by one of the three kings who shared with her the
royal power: her father, Thothmes I., her husband,
Thothmes If., or her nephew, Thothmes III.
On the south side of the sanctuary the queen is
always on the end wall, and on the right side of the
niche. When we speak of the queen, Ave mean in the
original sculpture, for she has been either erased or
replaced by Thothmes II. In the first deep niche we
see with her Thothmes II. ; in the second Thothmes I.,
her father ; in the third and fourth, owing to the state
of destruction of the walls, we cannot say with certainty
whether it was not, as in the second, Thothmes I. who
appeared opposite the queen.
The two side representations are not exactly alike.
We always see the king with an outstretched arm
seated before an altar plentifully provided with all
kinds of offerings. Over the head of the king are his
two cartouches. Behind the altar is, on the left side,
the priest Anmutef, with his leopard skin; the priest has
been erased and restored. In front of him is the name
f\ .......IN
(I , also erased and restored, and these words
1 A ,=^=, followed by a cartouche which is every-
where the same as that of the seated king, except in
one case (pi. CXXXV). On the right side, behind the
altar, stands not the priest Anmutef but the god Thoth
himself (pi. CXXXVI.). He has been erased and
restored; it is the same also with the name of the god
J e , Anion, who stood in front of him.
On the north side of the doorway we have also a series
of nine niches, five of them high, and four deep. They
are very much destroyed. We can, however, recognize
that the style of decoration was absolutely the same ; at
the end the queen, wearing the head-dress of Lower
Egypt, between god and goddess; on one of the sides she
is seated; there it is always on the left side, whereas
in the southern series it is on the right; on the north it
is the Anmutef who is in front of her. In one of the
instances the lower cartouche of the queen has been
replaced by | ^ ^_ ^ ^ ^, " the Anmutef, the
priest of the sanctuary." On the south side we have
seen that the god Thoth always stood before the queen.
The Anmutef is not always a priest of the dead.
We have seen him before (pi. LXIII.) in the pictures
of the coronation pouring water on the head of the
queen in the sanctuary. In the niches ho is often be-
fore a dead sovereign, Thothmes I. or Aahmes, but we
see him repeatedly before the queen, who was cer-
tainly living when the temple was built, and when the
decorations were made.
In other funerary temples, like that of Goornah, we
see the king as his own Anmutef, himself acting as
priest to his own person considered as that of a god.
It seems to me that in the numerous representations
of these niches we must explain in this way the fact
that above and below we always have the same car-
touche and therefore translate the words 1 A ," royal
offering of," or "made by." At the same time I con-
sider that the offering king takes the appearance of
Anion or Thoth. The Anmutef is a divine being,
otherwise the figure of this priest would not have been
erased with his name.
Plate CXXXV. is particularly interesting, because it
is the only instance in these niches where the two
cartouches are not the same above and below. The
king to whom the offering is made is Thothmes II.
Here his name is original, and beautifully engraved ;
below, the cartouche in front of the Anmutef is
that of Thothmes III. This is confirmation of what
Thothmes says in one of his inscriptions, that he was the
Anmutef; here he acts in this quality towards his father.
Before the seated king are these words, I J,
which are obscure. They are found in all such scenes,
also in the Sanctuary. According to Brugsch they
mean " purification of the king," but one does not see
what they have to do with the scene.
The list of offerings is identical everywhere. Wo
have met with it already in the niches of the Altar
Court (pll. VI. and VII.).
Plate CXXXVI. Opposite Thothmes II., on the right
side of the niches, was the queen, whose cartouche has
been changed into that of her husband. The priest
on that wall is the god Thoth himself.
and have to be consecrated. For this the king touches
them with the long stick which he holds in his right
hand. Sometimes this stick is a mace, and other texts
show us that he has to do it four times.
The niches which are found in other parts of the
temple, such as the Altar Court or its vestibule, were
decorated in the same manner (Vol. I., pll. III., V., VI.,
VII.). On the end wall stood the queen between a
god and goddess, who are not the same in all the
niches. On the side walls the queen is seen seated
before an altar of offerings dedicated to her by the
priest Anmutef. In the niches of the Upper Court
there is a slight difference, the queen being generally
assimilated to a king; she is seen only on the end
wall and on one of the sides. The other side is occu-
pied by one of the three kings who shared with her the
royal power: her father, Thothmes I., her husband,
Thothmes If., or her nephew, Thothmes III.
On the south side of the sanctuary the queen is
always on the end wall, and on the right side of the
niche. When we speak of the queen, Ave mean in the
original sculpture, for she has been either erased or
replaced by Thothmes II. In the first deep niche we
see with her Thothmes II. ; in the second Thothmes I.,
her father ; in the third and fourth, owing to the state
of destruction of the walls, we cannot say with certainty
whether it was not, as in the second, Thothmes I. who
appeared opposite the queen.
The two side representations are not exactly alike.
We always see the king with an outstretched arm
seated before an altar plentifully provided with all
kinds of offerings. Over the head of the king are his
two cartouches. Behind the altar is, on the left side,
the priest Anmutef, with his leopard skin; the priest has
been erased and restored. In front of him is the name
f\ .......IN
(I , also erased and restored, and these words
1 A ,=^=, followed by a cartouche which is every-
where the same as that of the seated king, except in
one case (pi. CXXXV). On the right side, behind the
altar, stands not the priest Anmutef but the god Thoth
himself (pi. CXXXVI.). He has been erased and
restored; it is the same also with the name of the god
J e , Anion, who stood in front of him.
On the north side of the doorway we have also a series
of nine niches, five of them high, and four deep. They
are very much destroyed. We can, however, recognize
that the style of decoration was absolutely the same ; at
the end the queen, wearing the head-dress of Lower
Egypt, between god and goddess; on one of the sides she
is seated; there it is always on the left side, whereas
in the southern series it is on the right; on the north it
is the Anmutef who is in front of her. In one of the
instances the lower cartouche of the queen has been
replaced by | ^ ^_ ^ ^ ^, " the Anmutef, the
priest of the sanctuary." On the south side we have
seen that the god Thoth always stood before the queen.
The Anmutef is not always a priest of the dead.
We have seen him before (pi. LXIII.) in the pictures
of the coronation pouring water on the head of the
queen in the sanctuary. In the niches ho is often be-
fore a dead sovereign, Thothmes I. or Aahmes, but we
see him repeatedly before the queen, who was cer-
tainly living when the temple was built, and when the
decorations were made.
In other funerary temples, like that of Goornah, we
see the king as his own Anmutef, himself acting as
priest to his own person considered as that of a god.
It seems to me that in the numerous representations
of these niches we must explain in this way the fact
that above and below we always have the same car-
touche and therefore translate the words 1 A ," royal
offering of," or "made by." At the same time I con-
sider that the offering king takes the appearance of
Anion or Thoth. The Anmutef is a divine being,
otherwise the figure of this priest would not have been
erased with his name.
Plate CXXXV. is particularly interesting, because it
is the only instance in these niches where the two
cartouches are not the same above and below. The
king to whom the offering is made is Thothmes II.
Here his name is original, and beautifully engraved ;
below, the cartouche in front of the Anmutef is
that of Thothmes III. This is confirmation of what
Thothmes says in one of his inscriptions, that he was the
Anmutef; here he acts in this quality towards his father.
Before the seated king are these words, I J,
which are obscure. They are found in all such scenes,
also in the Sanctuary. According to Brugsch they
mean " purification of the king," but one does not see
what they have to do with the scene.
The list of offerings is identical everywhere. Wo
have met with it already in the niches of the Altar
Court (pll. VI. and VII.).
Plate CXXXVI. Opposite Thothmes II., on the right
side of the niches, was the queen, whose cartouche has
been changed into that of her husband. The priest
on that wall is the god Thoth himself.