TRAVEL EGYPT TOURS
The Mortuary Temple of Queen Hatshepsut, the Djeser-Djeseru ("Holy of Holies"), is located beneath the cliffs at Deir el Bahari on the west bank of the Nile near the Valley of the Kings in Egypt.
The mortuary temple is dedicated to the sun god Amon-Ra and is located next to the mortuary temple of Mentuhotep II, which served both as an inspiration, and later, a quarry. It is considered one of the "incomparable monuments of ancient Egypt.. .The main axis of the temple is set to an azimuth of about 116½° and is aligned to the winter solstice sunrise, which in our modern era occurs around the 21st or 22 December each year. The sunlight penetrates through to the rear wall of the chapel, before moving to the right to highlight one of the Osiris statutes that stand on either side of the doorway to the 2nd chamber. A further subtlety to this main alignment is created by a light-box, which shows a block of sunlight that slowly moves from the central axis of the temple to first illuminate the god Amen-Ra to then shining on the kneeling figure of Thutmose III before finally illuminating the Nile god Hapi. Additionally, because of the heightened angle of the sun, around 41 days on either side of the solstice, sunlight is able to penetrate via a secondary light-box through to the innermost chamber.
This inner-most chapel was renewed and expanded in the Ptolemaic era and has cult references to Imhotep the builder of Djoser's Step Pyramid and Amenhotep son of Hapu - the overseer of the works of Amenhotep III.
What to see at the Temple of Hatshepsut
A 100-foot causeway leads to the temple, which consists of three terraced courtyards covered in sculptural reliefs. Originally, sphinxes probably lined the path from the Nile to the base of the temple. The terraces have a severe, almost Communist appearance now, but in Hatshepsut's time they were softened and cooled by myrrh trees, green gardens, and fountains. The queen herself acquired the trees on a famous journey to the Land of Punt, which is depicted in one of the colonnades of the Middle Terrace.
Pairs of lions flanked the top and bottom of the ramp to the Middle Terrace; one of each survives today.
The right side of the terrace contains the Birth Colonnade, featuring faded reliefs of Hatshepsut's divine origins. From left: her parents Tuthmosis I and Queen Ahmosis sit with their knees touching; gods lead Ahmosis into the birth chamber; the god Khnum creates Hatshepsut and her ka (both depicted as boys) on a potter's wheel; Bes and Heqet (a frog deity) look on; goddesses nurse her; and Thoth records details of her reign.
At the end of the Birth Colonnade and down some steps is the Chapel of Anubis, with fluted columns and colorful murals. Over the niche on the right, Thutmosis III is shown offering wine to Sokaris (a sun god with a falcon's head). Hathor is on the facing wall. Other walls depict Hatshepsut (defaced after her death) and Tuthmosis making offerings to Anubis (the dog-headed god).
The left side of the terrace is occupied by the Punt Colonnade, whose faint reliefs depict Hatshepsut's journey to the Land of Punt (the birthplace of Amun) to bring back myrrh trees for her temple. The destination is believed to be in modern-day Somalia. From left: Amun commissions the journey; Egyptian boats sail from the Red Sea Coast and are welcomed by the king of Punt and his very fat wife (maybe afflicted by elephantiasis). The Egyptians offer metal axes and other goods and leave with myrrh trees, ebony, ivory, cinnamoon wood and panther skins. The last relief shows the trees being planted at the temple.
At the end of the Punt Colonnade is the Chapel of Hathor, with capitals in the shape of the goddess' face and sacred rattle (sistrum). In the first chamber, Hathor appears in bovine and human forms and suckles Hatshepsut (not defaced here) on the left wall. The next chamber has remarkably colorful reliefs of festival processions.
Inside the gated sanctuary of the Chapel of Hathor are reliefs of Hatshepsut (also preserved from destruction) worshipping the bovine Hathor on the left and a portrait of Senenmut on the right. Senenmut was the queen's favorite courtier, who fell from grace for mysterious reasons after 15 years of closeness with her and her daughter Neferure - whom he may have fathered. When this sanctuary was first discovered, it contained stacks of baskets full of wooden penises, perhaps used in fertility rituals.
On the top terrace is the Djeser-Djeseru ("Splendor of Splendors"), a colonnaded structure built into a cliff face that rises sharply above it. From a distance, the temple looks like the Egyptian hieroglyphic for Nun, a four-step pyramid representing the primordial mound from which Amun was born. The Upper Terrace is reached via a ramp flanked with vultures' heads. This terrace has only recently opened to visitors after years of excavations and restorations by Polish and Egyptian archaeologists. From there is a fine view of the Nile Valley.
The Sanctuary of Hatshepsut is on the left; it bears reliefs of priests and offerings. On the other side is the Sanctuary of the Sun, an open court with a central altar. In the center in the far back is the Sanctuary of Amun, dug into the cliff and aligned so that it points towards Hatshepsut's tomb in the Valley of the Kings. In the time of the Ptolemies, this was extended and dedicated to Imhotep and Amenhotep
-
Deir El Bahri - Hatshepsut Mortuary Temple
-
Queen Hatshepsut
Hatshepsut meaning Foremost of Noble Ladies (1508–1458 BC) was the fifth pharaoh of the Eighteenth dynasty of Ancient Egypt.
She is generally regarded by Egyptologists as one of the most successful pharaohs, reigning longer than any other woman of an indigenous Egyptian dynasty. According to Egyptologist James Henry Breasted she is also known as "the first great woman in history of whom we are informed."
Hatshepsut was the daughter of Thutmose I and his primary wife Ahmes. Her husband Thutmose II was the son of Thutmose I and a secondary wife named Mutneferet, who carried the title King's daughter and was probably a child of Ahmose I. Hatshepsut and Thutmose II had a daughter named Neferure. Thutmose II fathered Thutmose III with Iset, a secondary wife.
When Thutmose died his son Thutmose II succeeded him and, as was the custom, he married his stepsister, Hatshepsut. When Thutmose II also died, around 1479 BC, his son Thutmose III became Pharaoh. However as the new pharaoh was a minor, Hatshepsut stepped in as his regent. Thutmose III and Hatshepsut ruled together until 1473 BC, when she eventually appointed herself Pharaoh. She used a number of strategies to legitimate her role, including the claim that the god Amun-Ra had visited her mother while she was pregnant, which made her a divine child. Hatshepsut readily assumed traditional kingly regalia, including several male attributes such as; a fake beard, male clothing, as well as having herself drawn and treated like a man.
Although it was uncommon for Egypt to be ruled by a woman, the situation was not unprecedented..
In comparison with other female pharaohs, Hatshepsut's reign was much longer and prosperous. She was successful in warfare early in her reign, but generally is considered to be a pharaoh who inaugurated a long peaceful era.
She re-established international trading relationships lost during a foreign occupation and brought great wealth to Egypt. That wealth enabled Hatshepsut to initiate building projects that raised the calibre of Ancient Egyptian architecture to a standard, comparable to classical architecture, that would not be rivaled by any other culture for a thousand years. She managed to rule for about 20 years.
 Hatshepsut statue |  Temple of Hatshepsut |
|---|
Drawing of a real barque used by Hatshepsut for her expedition to Punt - note the fish, which may be identified by species.
DISCOVER YOURSELF EGYPT
One of the most famous things that she did was building the Mortuaru temple on the Theban clifs, at today called Deir El Bahri..
Hatshepsut established the trade networks that had been disrupted during the Hyksos occupation of Egypt during the Second Intermediate Period, thereby building the wealth of the eighteenth dynasty.
Hatshepsut was one of the most prolific builders in ancient Egypt, commissioning hundreds of construction projects throughout both Upper Egypt andLower Egypt. Arguably, her buildings were grander and more numerous than those of any of her Middle Kingdom predecessors'. Later pharaohs attempted to claim some of her projects as theirs.
Following the tradition of most pharaohs, Hatshepsut had monuments constructed at the Temple of Karnak. She also restored the original Precinct of Mut, the ancient great goddess of Egypt, at Karnak that had been ravaged by the foreign rulers during the Hyksos occupation.
She later ordered the construction of two more obelisks to celebrate her sixteenth year as pharaoh; one of the obelisks broke during construction, and thus, a third was constructed to replace it. The broken obelisk was left at its quarrying site in Aswan, where it still remains. Known as The Unfinished Obelisk, it demonstrates how obelisks were quarried.
During her fifteen year reign she mounted at least one military campaign and initiated a number of impressive building projects, including her superb funerary temple at Deir el-Bahari. One major achievement, the expedition to the Land of Punt, is shown on the temple walls. Believed to be located near the Red Sea, is shows ebony, ivory, myrrh saplings, animal skins, gold, perfumes and exotic animals etc, being brought back from this expedition. Another remarkable achievement, also chronicled through illustration shows two huge granite obelisks being transported on the River Nile from Aswan to the Temple of Karnak. Hatshepsut was a powerful and admirable woman who brought great stability to Egypt, however she mysteriously disappears around 1458 BC, when Thutmose III regained his title as Pharaoh. It is thought he despised Hatshepsut for keeping him from the throne and ordered all reference to her be wiped from Egyptian history.
Hatshepsut died as she was approaching what we would consider middle age given typical contemporary lifespans, in her twenty-second regnal year.
The Red Chapel
The Red Chapel of Hatshepsut or the Chapelle Rouge originally was constructed as a barque shrine during the reign ofHatshepsut.
Although it had been demolished and parts were reused in antiquity, following rediscovery, the chapel has been reconstructed using its original materials. Its original location is thought to have been in the central court of the temple of Amun at Karnak, near Thebes. Alternatively, it might have been situated between the two obelisks of Hatshepsut. It also is thought that behind it, Hatshepsut erected several smaller chapels and the Chambers of Hatshepsut.
It was erected at the temple of Karnak in the sanctuary of Amun-Ra and placed immediately in front of a mud-brick and limestone temple remaining from the Middle Kingdom. To the north and south of the Red Chapel stood a collection of smaller sandstone cult shrines known as the Hatshepsut Suite, whose decorations showed Hatshepsut making offerings to the deities. The chapel consisted of two rooms, a vestibule, and a sanctuary, which were raised on a diorite platform and could be accessed using short ramps on either side. The purpose of the chapel was to house the Userhat-Amun, the barque believed to be used by the deity Amun to travel about on festival days.
