Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean (18.2006(2008))

DEIR EL-BAHARI

EGYPT

made roughly and with much use of
plaster. The pinkish-beige paint was
applied to the background of the restored
areas. This phase can be dated plausibly to
Ramesses II, whose restoration text is
preserved just below the scene in question.
The artisans doing the restoration left
dipinti guiding their work (see below).
The fate of the sign of a fortress is
particularly interesting. It had originally
been placed in front of the king's figure as
a label of some kind, identifying the place
of the rite. However, contrary, for example,
to the so-called “Gotterfestungen” of the
Early Dynastic Period, it did not include
any name. At some point it was destroyed.
Of the two possibilities, the reign of
Thutmosis III and the Amarna Period, the
latter is more probable, given that the sign
was subsequently restored by the
Ramesside workers, who almost never

restored elements of the original design
referring to Hatshepsut and destroyed
during her damnatio memoriae by Thutmosis
III. The reasons for the primitive
placement, destruction, and restoration of
the sign are by no means clear. One may
speculate, however, that its meaning was
obvious and its existence important.
Various identifications of the place
where the rite was conducted (and thus the
possible identification of the jnb), have been
made by scholars, leading to different
reconstructions of the meaning of this
ceremony.5 The scene in Hatshepsut's
temple, unique in itself (and a rare reference
to accession rites after the Old Kingdom),
may give a clue to these speculations.
Moreover, the research on the scene of
'Going Round the Wall' is a step towards an
overall interpretation of the ideological
program of the Portico of the Birth.

ADDENDUM. POST-AMARNA RESTORATION SKETCHES

The Ramesside artisans restoring reliefs
devastated in the Amarna Period in the
temple of Hatshepsut left sketches in red
on the walls, marking the planned texts
or figures. These dipinti are especially
numerous in the Portico of the Birth,
including the analyzed scene of 'Going
Round the Wall', where there are sketches
of standards and the signs holding them
[Pig- 3], the goddess Wadjyt seated on
the w3d sign and the sign of a fortress.
Also the sketches for neighboring scenes
can be observed: between the fan and the
White Crown there is a drawing of figures

and labels for Seth and Horus from
a former scene of coronation in the chapel
of Upper Egypt (without the figure of the
king, which was never restored also in
parallel scenes in the temple, leaving the
two gods alone), and the text belonging
to the scene in the lower register was
written near Hatshepsut's foreleg. None
of the sketches was recorded by Howard
Carter who drew the scenes in the Portico
of the Birth for Naville's publication.
Now all the dipinti on the north wall
have been documented and the research
will be continued.

5 For example, the palace or the capital walls (the 'White Wall') of Memphis (Lauer 1931: 354-355), the tomb of the
deceased predecessor of the king (Goedicke 1985: 307-324). These problems will be analyzed by the present authors in
a forthcoming article.

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