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the king over some tribes of Western Asia, and on the south side is a representation of Rameses III. reviewing his army and battle scenes, etc. The Second Court (B) is about the same size as the first, and on each of the four sides is a portico; on the north and south sides the roof is supported by five columns with lotus capitals, and on the east and west sides by eight rectangular pillars, each of which had a statue of the king as Osiris in front of it. The walls on

[graphic][subsumed]

Court at Medînet Habû.

(From a photograph by A. Beato, of Luxor.)

the south-east side are decorated with reliefs of battle scenes, among them being :-The Theban triad giving the king victory over the invaders of Egypt; defeat of northern tribes by the Egyptians; counting the hands (3,000!) cut off from dead enemies; Rameses leading three rows of captives; and captives being offered to Amen; the accompanying text celebrates the king's victories. On the north-east are representations of religious processions at

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the festival of

Seker, the fes

tival of Åmen,

and the fes

tival of Amsu; these reliefs are of great

interest. This

courtyard

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column of

the northern

portico, and built an altar against the wall behind it. On the west wall are figures of a number of the king's sons. Passing into the

Hall of Col

umns (c) it is

seen that this

part of the tem

The Temple of Rameses III. at Medinet Habû.

ple is not as well preserved as the First and Second Courts, for of

the 24 columns which supported the roof, only the bases remain. This damage is said to have been wrought by the earthquake of B.C. 27, and the portions of the overthrown columns were probably used by the Copts and Arabs to make stones for corn mills. This hall measures about 87 feet by 62 feet. On the walls are reliefs in which the king is seen making offerings of various kinds to the gods of Thebes. On the south side are five small chambers wherein the treasures of the temple were kept. After the Hall of Columns come two small chambers, each with eight columns; the first, the reliefs of which are destroyed, measures about 56 feet by 27 feet. On each side are a number of small chambers, the walls of which are decorated with mythological, astronomical, and other scenes, and some were clearly set apart for the service of special gods; in most of them are sculptured figures of the king adoring the gods. The spaces left hollow by the foundation walls, and commonly called crypts, were often used as tombs. On the outside of the temple walls are series of reliefs which refer to -1. Calendar of Festivals (South Wall); 2. Wars against the people of the Sûdân, etc. (West Wall); and 3. Wars against the Libyans and peoples of Asia Minor (North Wall and part of West Wall). For a full account of the temple, see M. Daressy's excellent Notice Explicative des Ruines de Médinet Habou, Cairo, 1897.

THE TEMPLE OF QUEEN HATSHEPSET AT DER EL-BAHARI.

V. The unique and famous Temple of Dêr el-Baharî was built in terraces on a wide, open space, bounded at its further end by the semi-circular wall of cliffs which divides this space from the valley of the Tombs of the Kings; it is approached from the plain on the western side of the river through a narrow gorge, the sides of which are honeycombed with tombs. At the end of the last century (1798)

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until Mariette began to work at them in 1858, in which year he uncovered the bas-reliefs which depict the Expedition to Punt. At an early stage in his labours he recognized that Hatshepset's temple was, like many another temple on the western bank of the Nile at Thebes, a funerary temple, and that it must be classed with buildings like the Ramesseum and the great temple at Medînet Habû. In other words, the temple of Dêr el-Baharî was a huge private chapel which was built. by the great queen for the express purpose that offerings might be made to her ka, or "double," on the appointed days of festival, and to that of her father, Thothmes I. The site which she chose for the temple was holy ground, for ruins of a building, which was probably a funerary temple of Menthu-hetep II. a king of the XIth dynasty, were found to the south-west of the open space on which the queen built her temple. The whole temple was surrounded by an enclosing wall, most of which has disappeared, and was approached by means of an avenue of sphinxes. It was entered through a pylon, in front of which stood two obelisks. Passing through this pylon the visitor, following the pathway, arrived at an incline which led to the raised, colonnade of the Eastern Terrace (A). The bas-reliefs on its wall were protected by a roof (B), supported by one. row of rectangular pillars, and by one row of polygonal pillars. From the centre of this platform (c) an inclined plane or flight of steps led to the Western Terrace (D), and the face of the supporting wall was protected by a portico. (E), formed by two rows of square pillars. At each end of the portico are rock-cut shrines, which are approached through a twelve-columned portico, the roof of which is in perfect preservation. The Northern Shrine is decorated with religious scenes, and the Southern or Hathor Shrine, which is entered through a covered vestibule having pillars with Hathor-headed capitals, contains scenes relating to the rejoicings which took place at Thebes on the return of the

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