Egypt 31: Hatshepsut's Mortuary Temple

Today we visit one of my favorite sites in Egypt: Hatshepsut's Mortuary Temple.


Designed by Hatshepsut's architect (and probable lover) Senumut, this mortuary temple was built for the purpose of mummification for the female pharaoh's body.  Built at the base of a cliff on the west bank, across the river from Thebes, this temple was built on and around older, existing temples. Later pharaohs and religious cults followed suit, right up to the Christian Copt period, when the temple complex was used as a monastery.  It's other name is Deir al-Bahri, which means "Northern Monastery".  One of the most re-constructed temples, archaeology work and reconstruction continues at Deir al-Bahri.


I love the above photo, of two Tourist Police.  Against the backdrop of the Hatshepsut statue columns, they look like bookends.  I zoomed in on this one, and took the picture when they weren't looking at me, because I didn't want to baksheesh them for this photo.  I pretended I was closely examining the Horus statue, below.  This falcon-rendition of Horus would originally have been wearing the double-crown of Egypt, a symbol of the pharaoh as living god.



Unfortunately, we visited this site as the sun was setting into the desert behind it, so the temple was full of shadows.  I got some good pictures of carvings on pillars, like of the double-crown wearing Horus, above.  But not of the famed reliefs of Hatshepsut's expedition to Punt -- one of the famous features of this site.


On the grounds in front of this temple (a field of rubble now) was a Myrrh tree plantation -- trees that were brought from Punt, and whose aromatic sap yeilded a gum resin burned as incense.

Majestic.  A wonderful tribute to Hatshepsut.