DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4146#0020
THE PTOLEMAIC CHAMBER.
11
seen before Anion: on one side she appeals again, and
another queen or a king opposite. Here we see the
queen, and on the other side her mother Aahmes.
The Anmutef makes the offering to both, and the two
cartouches on each side are always the same. Lepsius
published one in which Thothmes II. is seen opposite
the queen ; but, unlike the niche in the court, it is his
cartouche also which is engraved before the Anmutef.
These niches arc very much ruined. In one which is
at the entrance we see Hatshepsu and Thothmes III.,
but the Anmutef is destroyed.
In the second room of the Sanctuary were two
niches, one on each side, much larger and on a different
plan. They look more like small chapels. The
sculptures are so much destroyed that they could not
be reproduced; however, the subjects engraved on
the walls can be recognized. At the end Avail is
always Hatshepsu. In the chapel on the north side
she makes an offering to Menthu, and on the left wall
she has been replaced by Thothmes II. and is before a
god, who may be Turn ; on the right wall Thothmes III.
is worshipping a god, who has been destroyed.
In the chapel on the south side, the end wall shows
Hatshepsu making offerings to a god, who has been
destroyed, and on the right wall she is before Horus,
while opposite Thothmes III. worships a rare goddess
| M o 1^ O, " Anit, the daughter of Ra."
It is probable that on the end wall there was a
representation of Anion, perhaps a group cut out of
the rock. It was destroyed when the last chamber of
the, Sanctuary was made.
PI„ A TE S CXLVIIl.-CL.
THE PTOLEMAIC CHAMBER.
The last chamber introduces us to a completely
different period. AVe come down to about 140 B.C., to
the reign of Ptolemy TX., Euergete< II.. also called
Physcon, who was twenty-nine years on the throne,
with two Cleopatras, one of them his sister, and the
other one his niece and also his wife. "The verdict of
the historians is unanimous that he was a monster
of cruelty and vice. He is set down by Strabo, along
with the fourth and the last Ptolemy, as by far the
worst in a dynasty which was rich in vices." However,
considering that he lived long and prospered and died
in peace at a ripe old age, Prof. Mahaffy thinks that
there may lie some exaggeration in the reports of the
later historians.
Curiously this chamber does not seem to have been
dedicated to a deity, but to two men who were both
deified : Amenophis, the son of Hapi, and Imhotep, the
-dii of Phtah. The north wall belongs to Amenophis,
the south wall to Imhotep. These men were both
famous for their learning and for their great wisdom.
Amenophis lived under the reign of his namesake,
Amenophis III. He was the son of a priest
called An"\>-^, Hapu, and his mother was called
& <=, %> w, Atii, but here it is different. His father
s the Hapi Apis bull, with his epithet of J Y, "he
who lives again " ; however, the god keeps the title of
priest ot*, which was that of the human father of
Amenophis. His mother seems to be Hathor, who
stands behind him.
Plate CXLVIII.—Although the inscriptions of this
plate are on the door, they are not beginnings. On
both sides they are the end of the neighbouring texts
of the walls in the room. On the right side they are
to be placed before Imhotep, after the two vertical lines
in front of him, the two horizontal fragments complet-
ing: the lonsr lines above and below the gods. On the
left it is the same with Amenophis. These texts
eulogize what the two men are doing for the gods.
Plate CXLIX.—Opposite Amenophis we find the
other deified man, Imhotep. He holds a sceptre which
he stretches towards ], the goddess of Thebes, who
is said to give birth to the provinces or nomes. But
it must be a celestial Thebes, since it is surrounded
by stars which are said to be its inhabitants.
Imhotep has numerous titles. He is " the great
Klierheb, the first chief one of the ibis, Imhotep, the son
of Phtah, Anebefres, who listens to him who implores
him, on the western side of Thebes, who does good to
its inhabitants, transmitting them life, giving strength
to its dwellers and joy, and enriching the land.'
Behind Imhotep is a goddess who has some likeness to
Hathor ; I believe it is his mother who has been deified
also, who has titles and who speaks like a goddess : —
11
seen before Anion: on one side she appeals again, and
another queen or a king opposite. Here we see the
queen, and on the other side her mother Aahmes.
The Anmutef makes the offering to both, and the two
cartouches on each side are always the same. Lepsius
published one in which Thothmes II. is seen opposite
the queen ; but, unlike the niche in the court, it is his
cartouche also which is engraved before the Anmutef.
These niches arc very much ruined. In one which is
at the entrance we see Hatshepsu and Thothmes III.,
but the Anmutef is destroyed.
In the second room of the Sanctuary were two
niches, one on each side, much larger and on a different
plan. They look more like small chapels. The
sculptures are so much destroyed that they could not
be reproduced; however, the subjects engraved on
the walls can be recognized. At the end Avail is
always Hatshepsu. In the chapel on the north side
she makes an offering to Menthu, and on the left wall
she has been replaced by Thothmes II. and is before a
god, who may be Turn ; on the right wall Thothmes III.
is worshipping a god, who has been destroyed.
In the chapel on the south side, the end wall shows
Hatshepsu making offerings to a god, who has been
destroyed, and on the right wall she is before Horus,
while opposite Thothmes III. worships a rare goddess
| M o 1^ O, " Anit, the daughter of Ra."
It is probable that on the end wall there was a
representation of Anion, perhaps a group cut out of
the rock. It was destroyed when the last chamber of
the, Sanctuary was made.
PI„ A TE S CXLVIIl.-CL.
THE PTOLEMAIC CHAMBER.
The last chamber introduces us to a completely
different period. AVe come down to about 140 B.C., to
the reign of Ptolemy TX., Euergete< II.. also called
Physcon, who was twenty-nine years on the throne,
with two Cleopatras, one of them his sister, and the
other one his niece and also his wife. "The verdict of
the historians is unanimous that he was a monster
of cruelty and vice. He is set down by Strabo, along
with the fourth and the last Ptolemy, as by far the
worst in a dynasty which was rich in vices." However,
considering that he lived long and prospered and died
in peace at a ripe old age, Prof. Mahaffy thinks that
there may lie some exaggeration in the reports of the
later historians.
Curiously this chamber does not seem to have been
dedicated to a deity, but to two men who were both
deified : Amenophis, the son of Hapi, and Imhotep, the
-dii of Phtah. The north wall belongs to Amenophis,
the south wall to Imhotep. These men were both
famous for their learning and for their great wisdom.
Amenophis lived under the reign of his namesake,
Amenophis III. He was the son of a priest
called An"\>-^, Hapu, and his mother was called
& <=, %> w, Atii, but here it is different. His father
s the Hapi Apis bull, with his epithet of J Y, "he
who lives again " ; however, the god keeps the title of
priest ot*, which was that of the human father of
Amenophis. His mother seems to be Hathor, who
stands behind him.
Plate CXLVIII.—Although the inscriptions of this
plate are on the door, they are not beginnings. On
both sides they are the end of the neighbouring texts
of the walls in the room. On the right side they are
to be placed before Imhotep, after the two vertical lines
in front of him, the two horizontal fragments complet-
ing: the lonsr lines above and below the gods. On the
left it is the same with Amenophis. These texts
eulogize what the two men are doing for the gods.
Plate CXLIX.—Opposite Amenophis we find the
other deified man, Imhotep. He holds a sceptre which
he stretches towards ], the goddess of Thebes, who
is said to give birth to the provinces or nomes. But
it must be a celestial Thebes, since it is surrounded
by stars which are said to be its inhabitants.
Imhotep has numerous titles. He is " the great
Klierheb, the first chief one of the ibis, Imhotep, the son
of Phtah, Anebefres, who listens to him who implores
him, on the western side of Thebes, who does good to
its inhabitants, transmitting them life, giving strength
to its dwellers and joy, and enriching the land.'
Behind Imhotep is a goddess who has some likeness to
Hathor ; I believe it is his mother who has been deified
also, who has titles and who speaks like a goddess : —