DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4147#0019
#>
12
DEIR EL BAHARI.
Thothmcs ITI., fulfilling the office of Anmutef (vol. V.,
pi. GXXXV). The very beautiful style of this repre-
sentation makes it all the more precious, since the
original figures of Thothmes II. which Lepsius saw in
the sanctuary have almost disappeared.
The latest excavations made at Karnak have shown
that in his lifetime, when Thothmes TI. built, lie took
the first jilace, the queen following as his wife ; he held
in no way that subordinate position which the sculp-
tures of Deir el Bahari seem to indicate. All these
reasons induce me to place the building of Hatshepsu's
temple in the years following on the death of Thoth-
mes II.
The building of the temple took a long time and may
even have lasted as long- as the reign. As soon as an
imjiortant event had occurred, the representation of it
was engraved on the walls. It was like an open book,
in which was inscribed during the queen's lifetime all
she wished to hand down to posterity. So the temple
was not finished at her death ; anyhow the decoration
remained incomplete.
The north colonnade and the chambers opening on
to it have remained free from all sculpture, yet all had
been prepared for it. The wall was protected by a row
of columns, for the sculptures were not, any more than
in the temple of Mentuhotep, to be left open to the sky,
on walls exposed to the outer air. The earliest date
which remains in the inscriptions is that of the year 9;
it is later than the expedition to the land called Punt.
When all the scenes of this expedition were sculptured
the walls of the Lower Terrace must have been entirely
white. They remained so till after the year 16,
when the transport of the obelisks was engraved on
them. Shortly after the year 20 the queen died and
left her work unfinished.
There is no doubt that Senmut was the architect of
the temple ; the inscriptions on his beautiful statue
found at Karnak tell us that he had charge of all the
works of the king at Thebes, at Erment, and at Deir el
Bahari. We can in this matter rely on the veracity of
Senmut, since we have found his name in the temple.
In the scene of the year 9 he appears before the queen,
following after Nehasi, the officer who commanded the
expedition to Punt; we have also several times found
in the excavation large beads inscribed with his name.
The principle which Senmut adopted for the plan of
the temple is in some ways similar to that of his
predecessor of the Xlth Dynasty, both making use of a
platform of rock adjacent to the cliffs, and reached by
a sloping ascent. The sides of this platform were cut
back, its vertical walls covered with a coating of
masonry, and the frontal slope flanked on both sides by
a double row of square pillars, supporting a ceiling
which protected the sculptures of the walls.
Senmut introduced several variations in the principle
upon which the temple of Mentuhotep is based. The
temple is free on two sides only, instead of three;
it has no court on the north side; there we have the
double platform standing against the rock, which has
been cut away to make room for the colonnade. In
spite of this principal difference and of others, there are
undeniable likenesses between the two buildings: such
as the use of the type of column known as proto-Doric,
which is, however, eight-sided in the Xlth Dynasty
work and sixteen-sided in that of the XVIIIth.
From the first the architect gave to his building
much larger proportions than those of the old temple.
He wanted to have two platforms instead of one, the
upper platform to stand against the cliff. He took
advantage of the contour of the mountain, and made
his plan accordingly.
The temple was dedicated to Anion and Hathor, the
two principal divinities of the locality. Anion occupies
the largest place in it. The queen tells us in her in-
scriptions that Anion was her father, and that Hathor
had fed her with her milk ; the two divinities might
therefore be considered her parents. The pictures of
the chapel of Hathor show us the cow Hathor suckling
a little boy, who is none other than the young queen.
The goddess says to him : " I am thy mother, creator of
thy person ; I have suckled thee to have ' the rights
of Horus.' " Thus it seems intended that a real worship
of the queen, third member of that holy triad, would
already take place in her temple at her lifetime, and in
the hall which she had erected and decorated specially
for this purpose.
The upper platform, on which the sanctuary opened,
seems to be the oldest portion of the building. In the
middle of this platform was a great court surrounded
by a double row of columns ; of these nothing now
remains. It was entered by a granite door placed at
the end of the second slope, and on the major axis of
the building; in a straight line with this entrance was
that to the sanctuary, the decoration of which has
suffered cruelly from its subsequent use as a Coptic
church. What little remains of the sculptures shows
us the queen, Thothnies III., and the young princess
Eaneferu making offerings to the barge of Anion : this
■
..>:»
£::
12
DEIR EL BAHARI.
Thothmcs ITI., fulfilling the office of Anmutef (vol. V.,
pi. GXXXV). The very beautiful style of this repre-
sentation makes it all the more precious, since the
original figures of Thothmes II. which Lepsius saw in
the sanctuary have almost disappeared.
The latest excavations made at Karnak have shown
that in his lifetime, when Thothmes TI. built, lie took
the first jilace, the queen following as his wife ; he held
in no way that subordinate position which the sculp-
tures of Deir el Bahari seem to indicate. All these
reasons induce me to place the building of Hatshepsu's
temple in the years following on the death of Thoth-
mes II.
The building of the temple took a long time and may
even have lasted as long- as the reign. As soon as an
imjiortant event had occurred, the representation of it
was engraved on the walls. It was like an open book,
in which was inscribed during the queen's lifetime all
she wished to hand down to posterity. So the temple
was not finished at her death ; anyhow the decoration
remained incomplete.
The north colonnade and the chambers opening on
to it have remained free from all sculpture, yet all had
been prepared for it. The wall was protected by a row
of columns, for the sculptures were not, any more than
in the temple of Mentuhotep, to be left open to the sky,
on walls exposed to the outer air. The earliest date
which remains in the inscriptions is that of the year 9;
it is later than the expedition to the land called Punt.
When all the scenes of this expedition were sculptured
the walls of the Lower Terrace must have been entirely
white. They remained so till after the year 16,
when the transport of the obelisks was engraved on
them. Shortly after the year 20 the queen died and
left her work unfinished.
There is no doubt that Senmut was the architect of
the temple ; the inscriptions on his beautiful statue
found at Karnak tell us that he had charge of all the
works of the king at Thebes, at Erment, and at Deir el
Bahari. We can in this matter rely on the veracity of
Senmut, since we have found his name in the temple.
In the scene of the year 9 he appears before the queen,
following after Nehasi, the officer who commanded the
expedition to Punt; we have also several times found
in the excavation large beads inscribed with his name.
The principle which Senmut adopted for the plan of
the temple is in some ways similar to that of his
predecessor of the Xlth Dynasty, both making use of a
platform of rock adjacent to the cliffs, and reached by
a sloping ascent. The sides of this platform were cut
back, its vertical walls covered with a coating of
masonry, and the frontal slope flanked on both sides by
a double row of square pillars, supporting a ceiling
which protected the sculptures of the walls.
Senmut introduced several variations in the principle
upon which the temple of Mentuhotep is based. The
temple is free on two sides only, instead of three;
it has no court on the north side; there we have the
double platform standing against the rock, which has
been cut away to make room for the colonnade. In
spite of this principal difference and of others, there are
undeniable likenesses between the two buildings: such
as the use of the type of column known as proto-Doric,
which is, however, eight-sided in the Xlth Dynasty
work and sixteen-sided in that of the XVIIIth.
From the first the architect gave to his building
much larger proportions than those of the old temple.
He wanted to have two platforms instead of one, the
upper platform to stand against the cliff. He took
advantage of the contour of the mountain, and made
his plan accordingly.
The temple was dedicated to Anion and Hathor, the
two principal divinities of the locality. Anion occupies
the largest place in it. The queen tells us in her in-
scriptions that Anion was her father, and that Hathor
had fed her with her milk ; the two divinities might
therefore be considered her parents. The pictures of
the chapel of Hathor show us the cow Hathor suckling
a little boy, who is none other than the young queen.
The goddess says to him : " I am thy mother, creator of
thy person ; I have suckled thee to have ' the rights
of Horus.' " Thus it seems intended that a real worship
of the queen, third member of that holy triad, would
already take place in her temple at her lifetime, and in
the hall which she had erected and decorated specially
for this purpose.
The upper platform, on which the sanctuary opened,
seems to be the oldest portion of the building. In the
middle of this platform was a great court surrounded
by a double row of columns ; of these nothing now
remains. It was entered by a granite door placed at
the end of the second slope, and on the major axis of
the building; in a straight line with this entrance was
that to the sanctuary, the decoration of which has
suffered cruelly from its subsequent use as a Coptic
church. What little remains of the sculptures shows
us the queen, Thothnies III., and the young princess
Eaneferu making offerings to the barge of Anion : this
■
..>:»
£::