Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean (17.2005(2007))

DEIR EL-BAHARI

EGYPT

THE HATHOR SHRINE

For the past few years the Mission has con-
centrated on recording the Hathor Shrine
and this project is entering a final stage.
The publication will follow the pattern
established in the recently published
volume on the Solar Complex of the
Hatshepsut Temple.2
The extant architectural documentation
includes the plan of the shrine [Fig. 1}, the
main cross-sections, the documentation of
the access to the shrine and its changes.3
The epigraphic documentation is very
much advanced. The plates of the scenes
for the inner part of the Hathor Shrine
have been completed. Also, most of the
drawings of scenes in the colonnade walls
have been completed. Remaining to be
done are the plates of the facade of the
shrine and the reconstruction of the dec-
oration of the pillars.4
The mam objective of the mission
during the 2005 season was to correct the
drawings of scenes of the inner part of the
Hathor Shrine for the planned publication
of the first volume. The corrections of the
scenes on the walls of the Sanctuary and
the Bark Room of Hathor were completed
and the correction ol drawings of the
vestibule and its four adjoining chapels
progressed. Many details were restudied
to detect all the existing remains of
outlines of figures and texts destroyed by
Tuthmosis III (figures and names of
Hatshepsut - Figs 2, 3, and Senenmut)
and by Akhenaten with the Ramesside
restorations (figures and names of Amen-

Re and some other gods, and some divine
symbols, Fig. 4, left). A few details cor-
rected by Hatshepsut's craftsmen (e.g.,
Fig. 4, right) constituted a special case. In
addition, some details were restudied to
improve the clarity of the graphic con-
vention of the plates.


Fig. 1. Flan of the Hathor Shrine (revised
plates are marked in bold): 96-10 -
Vestibule and the adjoining chapels;
11 - Bark Room with niches A-D;
12 - Sanctuary with niches A-B

2 J. Karkowski, The Temple of Hatshepsut: The Solar Complex, Deir el-Bakari VI (Warsaw 2003); cf. 79-83 for
comments on the solar significance of the Hathor Shrine.
3 Cf. preliminary report in INf. Beaux, J. Karkowski, "La chapelle cfHathor du temple cl Hatchepsout a Deir al-Bahari ,
BIFAO 93 (1993), 7-24.
4 The drawings were made by Liza Majerus-Janosi.

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