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"the same square form as those of Hatshepsu's lower 'colonnades, and its sculptured facing-wall has the same "batter or slope. Further, the pillars of the temple-hall on the platform are of the 'proto-Doric' type of those "of Hatshepsu's upper colonnades, the Shrine of Anubis, "etc.; the only difference being that they are eight-sided, "while Hatshepsu's are sixteen-sided. We are " reminded that the 'proto-Doric' column is unknown after "the Middle Empire, except in Hatshepsu's temple, whereas "its most typical form is found in the XIIth dynasty tombs " at Beni Hasan, and it occurs in other early tombs; further, 66 we find a modification of it used as a decorative motive "in the proto-Doric' pillar form commonly given to the "central supports of the head-rests which are found in "tombs of the Vth and VIth dynasties. It is, in fact, "typically early. The conclusion is obvious: Hatshepsu's "architects simply imitated and enlarged upon the design of "the older temple of Mentuhetep which had already existed "at Deir-el-Bahari for a thousand years before they began "their work; for some reason they chose, instead of building in the style of their time, to imitate an XIth "dynasty temple; the great temple of Deir-el-Bahari is "then simply a magnificent piece of archaism. Since Hatshepsu copied her temple from one of the XIth

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dynasty, a further interesting possibility presents itself. "Hatshepsu's expedition to Punt is the only one known to "us at the comparatively late period of the New Empire; "all other known relations between Egypt and Punt are "confined to the period between the Vth and VIth "dynasties. Mentuhetep Sankhkara, a follower of Neb"kheru-rā on the throne, sent an expedition to Punt. It "may well be that Hatshepsu's expedition was merely an "echo of those of Sankhkara and his predecessors; she "copied the XIth dynasty in her temple building, and "carried her archaistic tendencies so far as to imitate them

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"also in sending an expedition to Punt. The new discovery explains why Hatshepsu's architects, instead of 'building in the exact centre of the circus of Deir-el-Bahari, crammed the new temple up against the northern slope "of the cliffs, leaving the great space to the south which "had seemed unoccupied until this season's work. We now "see that they were compelled to do this by the presence, "which we moderns had hardly suspected, of the older "temple at Deir-el-Bahari. This temple, the newly dis"covered one, certainly existed side by side with the new "temple of Hatshepsu, throughout the XVIIIth dynasty, "and did not fall into ruin until the Ramesside period or "later. One of the pillars of the hypostyle hall bears the royal label of a Rameses. The relief-slabs of the hall and "the pillars of the colonnade are covered with Ramesside graffiti, both written and incised, and the colonnade "seems indeed to have been used as a sort of school or

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practice ground for young scribes and decorators. This "would hardly have been tolerated if the building had still "been in good repair, so that we can date its decadence "with some certainty to the Ramesside period. As it was, "in order to obtain room for their temple at all, Hatshepsu's "architects were compelled to plant its upper platform, and "the shrine of the goddess Hathor adjoining, right on the top of part of the temenos-wall of the older temple. This comes out from under the XVIIIth dynasty building and passes along masking the face of the cliff, till it joins, at "a remarkably acute angle, the facing-wall of the platform "of the XIth dynasty temple. The platform, which was originally about 15 to 18 feet high, is separated from the "Hathor shrine of Hatshepsu's temple by an open court some 60 feet broad. Its facing-wall, of remarkably fine stonework, reminding one of Knossos and of the nearly " contemporary walls of Dashur in its general effect, and far "superior to anything of the kind in Hatshepsu's temple, is

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"about 120 feet long, running nearly east and west, roughly "parallel with the later temple. The platform is rectangular; "its eastern side is cut off vertically like the northern side, "and the facing-wall follows its right-angled turn round into "the colonnade. The stone pavement of the colonnade is perfectly preserved; it is 68 feet long and 14 feet wide. "Of its columns, which originally numbered 24, disposed "in two parallel rows of 12 each, the row nearest the "platform is complete. The columns, which are a little over 2 feet square, were originally 11 feet or 12 feet high. They are broken off short at a height of from 4 feet to "7 feet above the ground. The ramp at the southern end "of the colonnade has not yet been excavated. This "ramp led up to a great entrance gate on the platform, of "which the original finely-polished red granite threshold, measuring 9 feet by 5 feet, was discovered in position, "with its door-socket, etc. This gate leads directly into "the hypostyle hall of octagonal 'proto-Doric' columns which "has already been mentioned. These pillars are small and

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"thin; they are about 2 feet 6 inches in diameter, and rest "upon circular bases 4 feet across. The bases of all are in "position, but of the pillars themselves only a few remain ; "the highest (now covered up again for the summer) is "about 9 feet high. Each bears the royal titles of King "Mentuhetep, as do also the square columns of the "colonnade below, and, like these also, they are made, "not of the white limestone which was used for the "facing-walls and relief-blocks of the temple and for "similar columns of Hatshepsu's temple, but of a grey "sandstone which seems to have been specially affected

by Mentuhetep Neb-kheru-ra; we find it also in "work of his at Abydos. At Deir-el-Bahari the sand

stone columns are covered with a white colour-wash; the "hieroglyphs are sometimes blue, sometimes yellow. There "seem to have been eight rows of columns on either

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"side of the central axis of the hall; the inter-columniation "is very narrow, measuring only 7 feet from centre to "centre. The half-width of the platform from the northern 66 corner to the central axis is about 80 feet. The hall was "surrounded by a thick wall of limestone, which was "decorated with the reliefs already mentioned. On the facing-wall of the colonnade below remain the only "reliefs still in their original position. They represent a "procession of boats. Outside the pillared hall, on the platform, an upper colonnade seems to have existed, "with pillars of greater size than those in the colonnade "below; of this colonnade only the base-slabs of the pillars "remain. Only the north-eastern corner of the platform "has as yet been uncovered; there remains, therefore, "much important work to be done, which, it is hoped, will

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produce results even more important than those gained in 'the present season's work. Several tombs of the XIth"XIIth dynasty, in the court and on the platform, were

opened in the course of the work. Though violated by "tomb-robbers, probably in Ramesside times, they have "yielded objects typical of interments of the period, in good "condition."

In the winter of 1904-5. Prof. Naville and Mr. Hall continued their work at Dêr al-Bahari, and discovered further remains of the temple of Menthu-hetep III. They found that the lower part of it was rectangular in shape, and that it was surrounded by a colonnade; the outside is cased with limestone slabs, behind which is a "wall of rough and heavy nodules of flint, and the middle is filled with rubbish and loose stones." On this rectangular building, or base, a small pyramid probably stood, at least that is what we should expect. This base was surrounded by a triple row of columns, which supported a ceiling and formed a hypostyle passage or colonnade, which must have been quite dark, or nearly so, for the outside was closed by a

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The Temple of Hatshepset

as excavated by Prof. Naville for the Egypt Exploration Fund.

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