DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4147#0020
HATSHEPSU AND THE TEMPLE OF DEIB EL BAHAEI.
13
barge carried a naos, which must have contained the
emblem of the god. What shape had this emblem ?
We do not know; but it seems quite probable that
this sanctuary, composed of two halls, to which the
Ptolemies added a third, contained the naos which
concealed either the symbol or the statue of the god.
The ebony naos, of which we have found a panel and
the door, must have stood on one of these barges.
On the wall at the back of the court, on both sides
of the door of the sanctuaiy, opened symmetrical niches
in which are found the names of the queen, of her
father Thothmes I., and of Thothmes II. On both
sides of these niches we see the king seated, and in
front of him his own figure fulfilling the office of
Anmutef and bringing him offerings. The represen-
tation of Thothmes II. is the only exception; his
Anmutef is not himself, but his son, Thothmes III.
I suppose that these niches must have contained
statues of the queen or of other sovereigns of her
family; and as it is not likely that these statues
were erected after the queen's death, we may admit
that this worship, which in other respects we might
qualify as funerary, was nevertheless instituted during
her lifetime. This fact is not without interest.
The worship of father and daughter was specially
celebrated in the southern part of the court. There
stood the great hall which I called " South-western
Hall of Offerings," specially dedicated to the queen.
This hall is still remarkable for its arched ceiling,
and for the beautiful sculptures on its walls. As it
became the principal chapel of the Copts, at the
entrance of which the monks were buried, it has sus-
tained much damage; the great granite stele at the
back of the hall is completely defaced. But one can
still see in the engraved pictures of the hall great
processions of priests bringing presents of all kind to
the queen. Hatshepsu is seated on a throne carried
by the stake Tf, to which two Niles are tying the
North and the South. Behind Hatshepsu stands her
"living double"; she wears as usual the beard and
clothes of a man. Before her is a table of offerings.
Priests of various kinds pour out water for her, burn
pierfumes, or read liturgies. The whole scene recalls
the pictures found in tombs, especially in those
of the Old Empire. There is more; the sculpture
is accompanied by a long text of a well-marked
funerary character, which we find in several pyramids.
Yet we cannot be mistaken; the queen is living; she
occupies the throne, and among the promises which
are made to her is that of life and of duration. If we
want another proof, we have only to pass into the next
hall. There the queen herself makes offerings to her
father, Thothmes L, who is said to be dead, and whose
appearance and attitude are exactly similar to his
daughter's. There is, as we see, a complete identity
between the worship of the dead and that of the living.
The living Hatshepsu was a goddess who could claim
divine honours; after her death she would receive
them just in the same way as in her life-time. The
enjoyment of them would be all the more insured
to her for their being represented on the walls of her
temple, according to the idea very current among the
Egyptians, as among other nations, that the repre-
sentation of a thing or a person is the way to evoke
it and insure its existence. When Amenophis IV. so
pitilessly erased the names or the figures of Amon, and
especially when the Ramessides destroyed with savage
fury the representations of the queen, even when she
has the appearance of a man, what induced them to
act thus was not so much the wish to cause the
name of the god, or the appearance of that queen
whom they considered a usurper, to be forgotten,
but because they firmly believed that the destruc-
tion of the image entailed that of the person. Once
all the figures of Hatshepsu had disappeared, the
queen herself would no longer exist in that other life
where she hoped to enjoy divine honours. She would
be annihilated.
In most of the representations of the queen she is
followed by her double, a personage smaller than her-
self, who bears on his head what has been called the
banner, surmounted by Horus crowned with the double
crown. The double is the U ha, generally called
" the royal living double of the king." Each time that
the Jca, or the double, is represented in this way, he is
spoken of as being alive. Sometimes he is replaced by
one of several symbols ; one or two fans, the two arms
holding a fan, or again others. It seems to be the
representation of an eternal life, like that of Ra. It is
also the ■=«*■, the sa, the protecting element which
must always accompany the king; also when the
double is not represented in person or in a symbolic
shape, it is replaced by a phrase which tells us that
the sa, the protecting element, is indeed there behind
him, although it is not seen.
Such are a few of the religious ideas reflected in the
sculptures of Deir el Bahari. As to the ceremonies
and offerings, they are the same as in all temples and
E
13
barge carried a naos, which must have contained the
emblem of the god. What shape had this emblem ?
We do not know; but it seems quite probable that
this sanctuary, composed of two halls, to which the
Ptolemies added a third, contained the naos which
concealed either the symbol or the statue of the god.
The ebony naos, of which we have found a panel and
the door, must have stood on one of these barges.
On the wall at the back of the court, on both sides
of the door of the sanctuaiy, opened symmetrical niches
in which are found the names of the queen, of her
father Thothmes I., and of Thothmes II. On both
sides of these niches we see the king seated, and in
front of him his own figure fulfilling the office of
Anmutef and bringing him offerings. The represen-
tation of Thothmes II. is the only exception; his
Anmutef is not himself, but his son, Thothmes III.
I suppose that these niches must have contained
statues of the queen or of other sovereigns of her
family; and as it is not likely that these statues
were erected after the queen's death, we may admit
that this worship, which in other respects we might
qualify as funerary, was nevertheless instituted during
her lifetime. This fact is not without interest.
The worship of father and daughter was specially
celebrated in the southern part of the court. There
stood the great hall which I called " South-western
Hall of Offerings," specially dedicated to the queen.
This hall is still remarkable for its arched ceiling,
and for the beautiful sculptures on its walls. As it
became the principal chapel of the Copts, at the
entrance of which the monks were buried, it has sus-
tained much damage; the great granite stele at the
back of the hall is completely defaced. But one can
still see in the engraved pictures of the hall great
processions of priests bringing presents of all kind to
the queen. Hatshepsu is seated on a throne carried
by the stake Tf, to which two Niles are tying the
North and the South. Behind Hatshepsu stands her
"living double"; she wears as usual the beard and
clothes of a man. Before her is a table of offerings.
Priests of various kinds pour out water for her, burn
pierfumes, or read liturgies. The whole scene recalls
the pictures found in tombs, especially in those
of the Old Empire. There is more; the sculpture
is accompanied by a long text of a well-marked
funerary character, which we find in several pyramids.
Yet we cannot be mistaken; the queen is living; she
occupies the throne, and among the promises which
are made to her is that of life and of duration. If we
want another proof, we have only to pass into the next
hall. There the queen herself makes offerings to her
father, Thothmes L, who is said to be dead, and whose
appearance and attitude are exactly similar to his
daughter's. There is, as we see, a complete identity
between the worship of the dead and that of the living.
The living Hatshepsu was a goddess who could claim
divine honours; after her death she would receive
them just in the same way as in her life-time. The
enjoyment of them would be all the more insured
to her for their being represented on the walls of her
temple, according to the idea very current among the
Egyptians, as among other nations, that the repre-
sentation of a thing or a person is the way to evoke
it and insure its existence. When Amenophis IV. so
pitilessly erased the names or the figures of Amon, and
especially when the Ramessides destroyed with savage
fury the representations of the queen, even when she
has the appearance of a man, what induced them to
act thus was not so much the wish to cause the
name of the god, or the appearance of that queen
whom they considered a usurper, to be forgotten,
but because they firmly believed that the destruc-
tion of the image entailed that of the person. Once
all the figures of Hatshepsu had disappeared, the
queen herself would no longer exist in that other life
where she hoped to enjoy divine honours. She would
be annihilated.
In most of the representations of the queen she is
followed by her double, a personage smaller than her-
self, who bears on his head what has been called the
banner, surmounted by Horus crowned with the double
crown. The double is the U ha, generally called
" the royal living double of the king." Each time that
the Jca, or the double, is represented in this way, he is
spoken of as being alive. Sometimes he is replaced by
one of several symbols ; one or two fans, the two arms
holding a fan, or again others. It seems to be the
representation of an eternal life, like that of Ra. It is
also the ■=«*■, the sa, the protecting element which
must always accompany the king; also when the
double is not represented in person or in a symbolic
shape, it is replaced by a phrase which tells us that
the sa, the protecting element, is indeed there behind
him, although it is not seen.
Such are a few of the religious ideas reflected in the
sculptures of Deir el Bahari. As to the ceremonies
and offerings, they are the same as in all temples and
E