Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean (10.1998(1999))

DEIR EL-BAHARI

EGYPT

decorated block, concealed almost com-
pletely by the sandstone jamb of Ptolemaic
make. The cleaning of the wall revealed
a fragment of a relief which had not been
visible so far; once the front of the block
was cleaned of mortar and dirt, a big frag-
ment of a depiction of Hatshepsut became
visible. Despite the unfortunate damage to
the face of the queen, which occurred when
the block was being reinstalled in the
north wall, the type of the representation

with the queen shown with hands raised in
the characteristic gesture of greeting that
is common in portal decoration, leaves no
doubt that the block should be referred to
the now lost original entrance to the room
of the offerings. The decoration of the
facade of the entrance to the last room of
the complex repeated a motif known from
the granite portal of the sanctuary. Thanks
to the identification and fitting together of
five other blocks from different expedition


Fig. 5 Reconstruction of the entrance to the last room of the sanctuary of Amun-Re: a - block
removed from the northern wall of the room of the offerings table; b - block removed from the
western wall of the room of the bark; c- blocks recovered from the expedition stores
(Photo W.Jerke)

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