PYRAMIDS OF GIZA

WITH THE RED PYRAMID, SNEFERU SET THE STANDARD FOR ALL TRUE PYRAMIDS TO COME. HE INCLUDED
ABOVEGROUND BURIAL CHAMBERS, A MORTUARY TEMPLE, AND A CAUSEWAY LEADING DOWN TO A VALLEY TEMPLE.
THIS WAS THE MODEL FOLLOWED BY HIS SON, KHUFU, WH BUILT THE FIRST AND LARGEST PYRAMID AT GIZA. THE
GIZA PYRAMIDS WERE ERECTED ON A ROCKY PLATEAU ON THE WEST BANK OF THE NILE IN NORTHERN EGYPT
AND WERE CONNECTED, BY COVERED CAUSEWAYS, TO MORTUARY TEMPLES IN THE VALLEY BELOW THE PLATEAU.
THESE TEMPLES HAD LANDING STAGES WHICH WERE LINKED TO THE NILE BY A CANAL. IN ANCIENT TIMES THEY
WERE INCLUDED AMONG THE SEVEN WONDERS OF THE WORLD.

PYRAMID OF KHUFU – 2575-2566 BC

THE LARGEST OF THE THREE PYRAMIDS AT GIZA, KNOWN AS THE GREAT PYRAMID, PYRAMID OF KHUFU
(GREEK: CHEOPS) IS TRULY AN ASTONISHING WORK OF ENGINEERING. IT WAS BUILT OVER A TWENTY YEAR
PERIOD. SOME BELIEVE THAT IT WAS BUILT BY SLAVES, BUT THIS IS NOT TRUE. ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND PEOPLE
WORKED ON THE GREAT STRUCTURE FOR THREE MONTHS OF EACH YEAR; DURING THE NILE’S ANNUAL FLOOD
WHEN IT WAS IMPOSSIBLE TO FARM THE LAND AND MOST OF THE POPULATION WAS UNEMPLOYED. THE PHARAOH
PROVIDED GOOD FOOD AND CLOTHING FOR HIS WORKERS, AND WAS KINDLY REMEMBERED IN FOLK TALES FOR
MANY CENTURIES.

KHUFU’S PYRAMID IS PERHAPS THE MOST COLOSSAL SINGLE BUILDING EVER ERECTED ON THE PLANET.
IT’S SIDES RISE AT AN ANGLE OF 51°52′ AND ARE ACCURATELY ORIENTED TO THE FOUR CARDINAL POINTS OF THE
COMPASS. THE SIDES ARE ORIENTED TO THE FOUR CARDINAL POINTS OF THE COMPASS AND THE LENGTH OF EACH
SIDE AT THE BASE IS 755 FEET (230.4 M). THE FACES RISE AT AN ANGLE OF 51º 52’ AND THEIR ORIGINAL HEIGHT
WAS 481 FEET (147 M). (THEY CURRENTLY RISE 451 FEET [138 M].) IT WAS CONSTRUCTED USING AROUND
2,300,000 LIMESTONE BLOCKS, EACH WEIGHING AN AVERAGE OF 2.5 TONS. SOME BLOCKS WEIGH AS MUCH AS 16
TONS. FOR CENTURIES, THE GREAT PYRAMID WAS ENCASED IN SMOOTH LIMESTONE, BUT THIS WAS PLUNDERED
IN OUR ERA TO BUILD CAIRO.

PYRAMID OF KHAFRE - 2558–2532 BC

KHUFU’S SON, KHAFRE (ALSO KNOWN AS CHEPHREN). HIS PYRAMID, ON A NEARBY SITE AT GIZA, APPEARS
TALLER THAN HIS FATHER’S, BUT THIS IS AN ILLU¬SION; IT IS BUILT ON HIGHER GROUND AND WAS IN FACT,
ORIGI¬NALLY AT 447 .5 FEET (136.4 M), 33.5 FEET (10.2 M) SHORTER THAN THE GREAT PYRAMID.

KHAFRE’S PYRAMID RETAINS SOME OF ITS ORIGINAL LIMESTONE CASING AT THE APEX, AND SO IT IS POSSIBLE TO
IMAGINE HOW THE PYRAMIDS MIGHT HAVE AP¬PEARED IN ANTIQUITY. KHAFRE ALSO BUILT THE GREAT SPHINX,
WHICH IS 66 FEET HIGH (20 M) AND 240 FEET LONG (73 M) AND IS PART OF KHAFRE’S PYRAMID COMPLEX. IT
REPRESENTS RA-HARAKHTE, THE SUN GOD, AS HE RISES IN THE EAST AT DAWN BUT THE FACE OF THE SPHINX IS
A PORTRAIT OF KHAFRE HIMSELF, AND IS CONTEMPORARY WITH HIS PYRAMID. IT WAS CARVED FROM AN
OUTCROPPING OF LIMESTONE LEFT AFTER QUARRYING THE STONE FOR HIS FATHER’S PYRAMID.

UNFORTUNATELY, THE GREAT SPHINX HAS DETERIORATED OVER THE MILLENNIA AND WAS EXTENSIVELY
RENOVATED IN ANCIENT TIMES. MORE RECENTLY IT WAS MUTILATED BY THE SULTAN MOHAMMED AN-NASIR IN AD
1300; AND LOST ITS NOSE IN 1798, WHEN NAPOLEON’S SOLDIERS USED IT FOR TARGET PRACTICE.

PYRAMID OF MENKAURE - 2532-2503 BC

KHAFRE’S SON, MENKAURA BUILT THE THIRD PYRAMID AT THE GIZA NECROPOLIS (CEM¬ETERY). WITH AN
ORIGINAL HEIGHT OF 228 FEET (70 M), IT IS LESS THAN HALF THE HEIGHT OF THE PYRAMID BUILT BY HIS
GRANDFATHER, KHUFU. THE LOWER LAYERS CONSIST OF RED GRANITE FROM ASWAN AND THE UPPER COURSES
WERE ORIGINALLY MADE OF GLEAMING WHITE LIMESTONE.
 MASTABA

A MASTABA  (MEANING "HOUSE OF ETERNITY" OR "ETERNAL HOUSE" IN ANCIENT EGYPTIAN) IS A TYPE

OF ANCIENT EGYPTIAN TOMB IN THE FORM OF A FLAT-ROOFED, RECTANGULAR STRUCTURE WITH INWARD SLOPING
SIDES, CONSTRUCTED OUT OF MUD-BRICKS (FROM THE NILE RIVER). THESE EDIFICES MARKED THE BURIAL SITES
OF MANY EMINENT EGYPTIANS DURING EGYPT'S EARLY DYNASTIC PERIOD AND OLD KINGDOM. IN THE OLD
KINGDOM EPOCH, LOCAL KINGS BEGAN TO BE BURIED IN PYRAMIDS INSTEAD OF IN MASTABAS, ALTHOUGH NON-
ROYAL USE OF MASTABAS CONTINUED FOR OVER A THOUSAND YEARS.

THE WORD 'MASTABA' COMES FROM THE ARABIC WORD FOR A BENCH OF MUD. [7] WHEN SEEN FROM A
DISTANCE, A FLAT-TOPPED MASTABA DOES RESEMBLE A BENCH. HISTORIANS SPECULATE THAT THE EGYPTIANS
MAY HAVE BORROWED ARCHITECTURAL IDEAS FROM MESOPOTAMIA, SINCE AT THE TIME THEY WERE BOTH
BUILDING SIMILAR STRUCTURES.

STRUCTURE

THE ABOVE-GROUND STRUCTURE OF A MASTABA IS RECTANGULAR IN SHAPE WITH INWARD-SLOPING

SIDES AND A FLAT ROOF. THE EXTERIOR BUILDING MATERIALS WERE INITIALLY BRICKS MADE OF THE SUN-DRIED
MUD READILY AVAILABLE FROM THE NILE RIVER. EVEN AFTER MORE DURABLE MATERIALS SUCH AS STONE CAME
INTO USE, ALL BUT THE MOST IMPORTANT MONUMENTAL STRUCTURES WERE BUILT FROM MUDBRICKS.
[9]
 MASTABAS WERE OFTEN ABOUT FOUR TIMES AS LONG AS THEY WERE WIDE, AND MANY ROSE TO AT LEAST 30
FEET IN HEIGHT. THEY WERE ORIENTED NORTH-SOUTH, WHICH THE EGYPTIANS BELIEVED WAS ESSENTIAL FOR
ACCESS TO THE AFTERLIFE. THE ABOVE-GROUND STRUCTURE HAD SPACE FOR A SMALL OFFERING CHAPEL
EQUIPPED WITH A FALSE DOOR. PRIESTS AND FAMILY MEMBERS BROUGHT FOOD AND OTHER OFFERINGS FOR THE
SOUL, OR BA, OF THE DECEASED, WHICH HAD TO BE MAINTAINED IN ORDER TO CONTINUE TO EXIST IN THE
AFTERLIFE.

INSIDE THE MASTABA, A DEEP CHAMBER WAS DUG INTO THE GROUND AND LINED WITH STONE AND
BRICKS. THE BURIAL CHAMBERS WERE CUT DEEP, UNTIL THEY PASSED THE BEDROCK, AND WERE LINED WITH
WOOD.[10] A SECOND HIDDEN CHAMBER CALLED A SERDAB (‫)سرداب‬, FROM THE PERSIAN WORD FOR "CELLAR", [11] WAS
USED TO STORE ANYTHING THAT MAY HAVE BEEN CONSIDERED ESSENTIAL FOR THE COMFORT OF THE DECEASED
IN THE AFTERLIFE, SUCH AS BEER, GRAIN, CLOTHES, AND PRECIOUS ITEMS. [12] THE MASTABA HOUSED A STATUE
OF THE DECEASED THAT WAS HIDDEN WITHIN THE MASONRY FOR ITS PROTECTION. HIGH UP THE WALLS OF
THE SERDAB WERE SMALL OPENINGS THAT WOULD ALLOW THE BA TO LEAVE AND RETURN TO THE BODY
(REPRESENTED BY THE STATUE); ANCIENT EGYPTIANS BELIEVED THE BA HAD TO RETURN TO ITS BODY OR IT
WOULD DIE. THESE OPENINGS "WERE NOT MEANT FOR VIEWING THE STATUE BUT RATHER FOR ALLOWING THE
FRAGRANCE OF BURNING INCENSE, AND POSSIBLY THE SPELLS SPOKEN IN RITUALS, TO REACH THE STATUE".

HISTORY

THE AFTERLIFE WAS AN IMPORTANT PART OF ANCIENT EGYPTIAN RELIGION. THIS IS REFLECTED IN THEIR

ARCHITECTURE AND MOST PROMINENTLY BY THE ENORMOUS AMOUNTS OF TIME, MONEY, AND LABOUR INVOLVED
IN THE BUILDING OF TOMBS.[3] ANCIENT EGYPTIANS BELIEVED THE SOUL COULD LIVE ONLY IF THE BODY WAS
PRESERVED FROM CORRUPTION AND DEPREDATION AS WELL AS FED. [4]

STARTING IN THE PREDYNASTIC ERA AND CONTINUING INTO THE LATER DYNASTIES, THE ANCIENT
EGYPTIANS DEVELOPED INCREASINGLY COMPLEX AND EFFECTIVE METHODS FOR PRESERVING AND PROTECTING
THE BODIES OF THE DEAD. THEY BURIED THEIR DEAD IN PIT GRAVES DUG OUT FROM THE SAND; THE BODY
PLACED ON A MAT, USUALLY ALONG WITH SOME ITEMS BELIEVED TO HELP THEM IN THE AFTERLIFE. THE FIRST
TOMB STRUCTURE WHICH THE EGYPTIANS DEVELOPED WAS THE MASTABA, COMPOSED OF EARTHEN BRICKS MADE
FROM SOIL ALONG THE NILE. IT PROVIDED BETTER PROTECTION FROM SCAVENGING ANIMALS AND FROM GRAVE
ROBBERS. AS THE REMAINS WERE NOT IN CONTACT WITH THE DRY DESERT SAND,
NATURAL MUMMIFICATION COULD NOT TAKE PLACE; THEREFORE THE EGYPTIANS DEVISED A SYSTEM OF
ARTIFICIAL MUMMIFICATION. [5] UNTIL AT LEAST THE OLD PERIOD OR FIRST INTERMEDIATE PERIOD, ONLY HIGH
OFFICIALS AND ROYALTY WOULD BE BURIED IN THESE MASTABAS. [6]
 PYLON

PYLON IS THE GREEK TERM FOR A MONUMENTAL GATEWAY OF AN EGYPTIAN TEMPLE . IT CONSISTS OF TWO

TAPERING TOWERS, EACH SURMOUNTED BY A CORNICE, JOINED BY A LESS ELEVATED SECTION WHICH ENCLOSED
THE ENTRANCE BETWEEN THEM.[2] THE ENTRANCE WAS GENERALLY ABOUT HALF THE HEIGHT OF THE TOWERS.
CONTEMPORARY PAINTINGS OF PYLONS SHOW THEM WITH LONG POLES FLYING BANNERS.

IN ANCIENT EGYPTIAN THEOLOGY, THE PYLON MIRRORED THE HIEROGLYPH FOR 'HORIZON' OR AKHET,

WHICH WAS A DEPICTION OF TWO HILLS "BETWEEN WHICH THE SUN ROSE AND SET." [2] CONSEQUENTLY, IT
PLAYED A CRITICAL ROLE IN THE SYMBOLIC ARCHITECTURE OF A CULT BUILDING WHICH WAS ASSOCIATED WITH
THE PLACE OF RECREATION AND REBIRTH. PYLONS WERE OFTEN DECORATED WITH SCENES EMPHASIZING A
KING'S AUTHORITY SINCE IT WAS THE PUBLIC FACE OF A CULT BUILDING. [2] ON THE FIRST PYLON OF THE TEMPLE
OF ISIS AT PHILAE, THE PHARAOH IS SHOWN SLAYING HIS ENEMIES WHILE ISIS, HORUS AND HATHOR LOOK ON.
OTHER EXAMPLES OF PYLONS CAN BE SEEN IN LUXOR AND EDFU.

RITUALS TO THE GOD AMUN WHO BECAME IDENTIFIED WITH THE SUN GOD RA WERE OFTEN CARRIED OUT
ON THE TOP OF TEMPLE PYLONS. IN ADDITION TO STANDARD VERTICAL GROOVES ON THE EXTERIOR FACE OF A
PYLON WALL WHICH WERE DESIGNED TO HOLD FLAG POLES, SOME PYLONS ALSO CONTAINED INTERNAL
STAIRWAYS AND ROOMS.[2] THE OLDEST INTACT PYLONS BELONG TO MORTUARY TEMPLES FROM THE 13TH AND
12TH CENTURY BCE RAMESSSIDE PERIOD.[2] A PAIR OF OBELISKS USUALLY STOOD IN FRONT OF A PYLON.

ANCIENT PYLONS WERE MOST OFTEN MASSIVE STONE STRUCTURES THAT FLANKED THE DOORS TO
TEMPLES. THE EGYPTIANS MADE FREQUENT USE OF THEM, USUALLY IN THE FORM OF FORESHORTENED PYRAMIDS
TO MARK THE ENTRANCES OF TOMBS. PYLONS WERE DECORATED WITH CARVINGS, MOLDINGS, AND CORNICES.
THE PONT ALEXANDRE III IN PARIS FEATURES PYLONS IN THE FORM OF DECORATIVE QUADRANGLE PILLARS. THE
WORD MAY ALSO REFER TO ANY ISOLATED TOWER, ESPECIALLY SERVING MONUMENTAL PURPOSES.

NAME FOR THE LARGE ENTRANCE GATEWAY TO A TEMPLE, CONSISTING OF A GATEHOUSE FLANKED BY TALL
CONSTRUCTIONS IN THE SHAPE OF WIDE, TAPERING TOWERS. SOMETIMES THERE ARE ROOMS AND STAIRS
WITHIN THESE TOWERS WHO’S FUNCTION IS STILL UNCLEAR. THERE ARE OFTEN TALL, NARROW GROOVES IN THE
FRONT OF A PYLON. THESE USED TO HOLD WOODEN FLAGPOLES, AS IS SHOWN IN ANCIENT REPRESENTATIONS OF
PYLONS. THERE WERE USUALLY RELIEF SCENES ON THE FRONT OF THE PYLON AS WELL, ILLUSTRATING THE POWER
OF THE KING. A SCENE SHOWING HIM SLAYING HIS ENEMIES WAS PARTICULARLY POPULAR. THIS ACTIVITY WAS
REGARDED BY THE EGYPTIANS AS AN ESSENTIAL DUTY OF THE KING, DESIGNED TO PRESERVE COSMIC ORDER
(MAAT). BECAUSE THE ENTIRE TEMPLE WAS REGARDED AS A SYMBOL OF THE WORLD, THE OUTSIDE WALLS NEAR
THE ENTRANCE, THE TRANSITIONAL AREA BETWEEN THE 'CHAOTIC OUTSIDE WORLD' AND THE CREATED WORLD,
WERE THE MOST SUITABLE PLACE FOR A REPRESENTATION SHOWING VICTORY OVER THE DARK POWERS OF
CHAOS. THE TEMPLE PYLON WAS ALSO CONNECTED WITH THE CREATION AND THE TEMPLE AS THE COSMOS IN
OTHER WAYS. FOR EXAMPLE, BECAUSE OF ITS SHAPE THE PYLON WAS ASSOCIATED WITH THE TWO HILLS OF THE
HORIZON BETWEEN WHICH THE SUN ROSE EVERY DAY. IT IS ALSO KNOWN THAT THE TEMPLE WAS INTERPRETED
AS AN IMAGE OF THE PRIMEVAL HILL, ON WHICH THE CREATOR GOD APPEARED TO BEGIN HIS WORK. ON A
MYTHICAL LEVEL THE TWO TOWERS OF THE PYLON WERE ALSO IDENTIFIED WITH THE
GODDESSES ISIS AND NEPHTHYS, WHOSE JOB HERE WAS TO ASSIST THE SUN WHEN IT ROSE, JUST AS THEY
ELSEWHERE ASSIST OSIRIS WITH HIS RESURRECTION. LARGER TEMPLES OFTEN HAD SEVERAL PYLONS. THE
TEMPLE OF AMUN AT KARNAK, FOR EXAMPLE, HAD NO FEWER THAN TEN SUCH CONSTRUCTIONS. THE SPACE
BETWEEN THE WALLS OF A PYLON WAS USUALLY FILLED WITH RUBBLE, OFTEN INCLUDING BLOCKS FROM OLDER,
DISMANTLED TEMPLES. AN EXAMPLE OF THE LATTER ARE THE SO-CALLED 'TALATAT' BLOCKS FROM
CONSTRUCTIONS OF AMENHOTEP IV/AKHENATEN.

GREAT TEMPLE OF ABU SIMBEL

 THE GREAT TEMPLE OF ABU SIMBEL IS AN ANCIENT TEMPLE COMPLEX, ORIGINALLY CUT INTO A SOLID ROCK
CLIFF, IN SOUTHERN EGYPT AND LOCATED AT THE SECOND CATARACT OF THE NILE RIVER. THE TWO TEMPLES
WHICH COMPRISE THE SITE WERE CREATED DURING THE REIGN OF RAMESSES II (C. 1279 - C. 1213 BCE) EITHER
BETWEEN 1264 - 1244 BCE OR 1244-1224 BCE. THE DISCREPANCY IN THE DATES IS DUE TO DIFFERING
INTERPRETATIONS OF THE LIFE OF RAMESSES II BY MODERN DAY SCHOLARS. IT IS CERTAIN, BASED UPON THE
EXTENSIVE ARTWORK THROUGHOUT THE INTERIOR OF THE GREAT TEMPLE, THAT THE STRUCTURES WERE
CREATED, AT LEAST IN PART, TO CELEBRATE RAMESSES' VICTORY OVER THE HITTITES AT
THE BATTLE OF KADESH IN 1274 BCE. TO SOME SCHOLARS, THIS INDICATES A PROBABLE DATE OF 1264 BCE FOR
THE INITIAL CONSTRUCTION AS THE VICTORY WOULD HAVE BEEN FRESH IN THE MEMORY OF THE PEOPLE.
HOWEVER, THE DECISION TO BUILD THE GRAND MONUMENT AT THAT PRECISE LOCATION, ON THE BORDER WITH
THE CONQUERED LANDS OF NUBIA, SUGGESTS TO OTHER SCHOLARS THE LATER DATE OF 1244 BCE IN THAT IT
WOULD HAVE HAD TO HAVE BEEN BEGUN AFTER THE NUBIAN CAMPAIGNS RAMESSES II UNDERTOOK WITH HIS
SONS AND WAS BUILT AS A SYMBOL OF EGYPT'S POWER.

WHICHEVER DATE CONSTRUCTION BEGAN, IT IS AGREED THAT IT TOOK TWENTY YEARS TO CREATE THE
COMPLEX AND THAT THE TEMPLES ARE DEDICATED TO THE GODS RA-HORAKTY, PTAH, AND THE DEIFIED RAMESSES
II (THE GREAT TEMPLE) AND THE GODDESS HATHOR AND QUEEN NEFERTARI, RAMESSES' FAVOURITE WIFE (THE
SMALL TEMPLE). WHILE IT IS ASSUMED THAT THE NAME, `ABU SIMBEL', WAS THE DESIGNATION FOR THE COMPLEX
IN ANTIQUITY, THIS IS NOT SO. ALLEGEDLY, THE SWISS EXPLORER BURCKHARDT WAS LED TO THE SITE BY A BOY
NAMED ABU SIMBEL IN 1813 CE AND THE SITE WAS THEN NAMED AFTER HIM. BURCKHARDT, HOWEVER, WAS
UNABLE TO UNCOVER THE SITE, WHICH WAS BURIED IN SAND UP TO THE NECKS OF THE GRAND COLOSSI AND
LATER MENTIONED THIS EXPERIENCE TO HIS FRIEND AND FELLOW EXPLORER GIOVANNI BELZONI. IT WAS BELZONI
WHO UNCOVERED AND FIRST EXCAVATED (OR LOOTED) ABU SIMBEL IN 1817 CE AND IT IS CONSIDERED LIKELY
THAT IT WAS HE, NOT BURCKHARDT, WHO WAS LED TO THE SITE BY THE YOUNG BOY AND WHO NAMED THE
COMPLEX AFTER HIM. AS WITH OTHER ASPECTS REGARDING ABU SIMBEL (SUCH AS THE DATE IT WAS BEGUN), THE
TRUTH OF EITHER VERSION OF THE STORY IS OPEN TO INTERPRETATION AND ALL THAT IS KNOWN IS THAT THE
ORIGINAL NAME FOR THE COMPLEX, IF IT HAD A SPECIFIC DESIGNATION, HAS BEEN LOST.

THE GREAT TEMPLE STANDS 98 FEET (30 METRES) HIGH AND 115 FEET (35 METRES) LONG WITH FOUR
SEATED COLOSSI FLANKING THE ENTRANCE, TWO TO EACH SIDE, DEPICTING RAMESSES II ON HIS THRONE; EACH
ONE 65 FEET (20 METRES) TALL. BENEATH THESE GIANT FIGURES ARE SMALLER STATUES (STILL LARGER THAN
LIFE-SIZED) DEPICTING RAMESSES' CONQUERED ENEMIES, THE NUBIANS, LIBYANS, AND HITTITES. FURTHER
STATUES REPRESENT HIS FAMILY MEMBERS AND VARIOUS PROTECTING GODS AND SYMBOLS OF POWER. PASSING
BETWEEN THE COLOSSI, THROUGH THE CENTRAL ENTRANCE, THE INTERIOR OF THE TEMPLE IS DECORATED WITH
ENGRAVINGS SHOWING RAMESSES AND NEFERTARI PAYING HOMAGE TO THE GODS. RAMESSES' GREAT VICTORY
AT KADESH IS ALSO DEPICTED IN DETAIL ACROSS THE NORTH WALL OF THE HYPOSTYLE HALL.

THE LOCATION OF THE SITE WAS SACRED TO HATHOR LONG BEFORE THE TEMPLES WERE BUILT THERE
AND, IT IS THOUGHT, WAS CAREFULLY CHOSEN BY RAMESSES FOR THIS VERY REASON. THE TEMPLES ARE ALSO
ALIGNED WITH THE EAST SO THAT, TWICE A YEAR, ON 21 FEBRUARY AND 21 OCTOBER, THE SUN SHINES DIRECTLY
INTO THE SANCTUARY OF THE GREAT TEMPLE TO ILLUMINATE THE STATUES OF RAMESSES AND AMUN. THE DATES
ARE THOUGHT TO CORRESPOND TO RAMESSES' BIRTHDAY AND CORONATION. THE ALIGNMENT OF SACRED
STRUCTURES WITH THE RISING OR SETTING SUN, OR WITH THE POSITION OF THE SUN AT THE SOLSTICES, WAS
COMMON THROUGHOUT THE ANCIENT WORLD.

TODAY ABU SIMBEL IS THE MOST VISITED ANCIENT SITE IN EGYPT AFTER THE PYRAMIDS OF GIZA AND
EVEN HAS ITS OWN AIRPORT TO SUPPORT THE THOUSANDS OF TOURISTS WHO ARRIVE AT THE SITE EACH YEAR.

TEMPLE OF QUEEN HATSHEPSUT

 THE TEMPLE OF HATSHEPSUT, ALSO KNOWN AS THE DJESER-DJESERU (ANCIENT EGYPTIAN:  "HOLY OF
HOLIES"), IS A MORTUARY TEMPLE OF ANCIENT EGYPT LOCATED IN UPPER EGYPT. BUILT FOR THE EIGHTEENTH
DYNASTY PHARAOH HATSHEPSUT, IT IS LOCATED BENEATH THE CLIFFS AT DEIR EL-BAHARI ON THE WEST BANK OF
THE NILE NEAR THE VALLEY OF THE KINGS. THIS MORTUARY TEMPLE IS DEDICATED TO AMUN AND HATSHEPSUT
AND IS SITUATED 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." [1]

HATSHEPSUT'S CHANCELLOR, THE ROYAL ARCHITECT SENENMUT, OVERSAW THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE

TEMPLE.[3] ALTHOUGH THE ADJACENT, EARLIER MORTUARY TEMPLE OF MENTUHOTEP II WAS USED AS A MODEL, THE
TWO STRUCTURES ARE NEVERTHELESS SIGNIFICANTLY DIFFERENT IN MANY WAYS. HATSHEPSUT'S TEMPLE
EMPLOYS A LENGTHY, COLONNADED TERRACE THAT DEVIATES FROM THE CENTRALISED STRUCTURE OF
MENTUHOTEP’S MODEL – AN ANOMALY THAT MAY BE CAUSED BY THE DECENTRALIZED LOCATION OF HER BURIAL
CHAMBER.[1] THERE ARE THREE LAYERED TERRACES REACHING 29.5 METRES (97 FT) TALL. EACH STORY IS
ARTICULATED BY A DOUBLE COLONNADE OF SQUARE PIERS, WITH THE EXCEPTION OF THE NORTHWEST CORNER
OF THE CENTRAL TERRACE, WHICH EMPLOYS PROTO-DORIC COLUMNS TO HOUSE THE CHAPEL. THESE TERRACES
ARE CONNECTED BY LONG RAMPS WHICH WERE ONCE SURROUNDED BY GARDENS WITH FOREIGN PLANTS
INCLUDING FRANKINCENSE AND MYRRH TREES. [3] THE TEMPLE INCORPORATES PYLONS, COURTS, HYPOSTYLE, SUN
COURT, CHAPEL AND SANCTUARY.

SCULPTURE

THE RELIEF SCULPTURE WITHIN HATSHEPSUT’S TEMPLE RECITES THE TALE OF THE DIVINE BIRTH OF A
FEMALE PHARAOH – THE FIRST OF ITS KIND. THE TEXT AND PICTORIAL CYCLE ALSO TELL OF AN EXPEDITION TO
THE LAND OF PUNT, AN EXOTIC COUNTRY ON THE RED SEA COAST. WHILE THE STATUES AND ORNAMENTATION
HAVE SINCE BEEN STOLEN OR DESTROYED, THE TEMPLE ONCE WAS HOME TO TWO STATUES OF OSIRIS, A SPHINX
AVENUE AS WELL AS MANY SCULPTURES OF THE QUEEN IN DIFFERENT ATTITUDES – STANDING, SITTING, OR
KNEELING. MANY OF THESE PORTRAITS WERE DESTROYED AT THE ORDER OF HER STEPSON  THUTMOSE III AFTER
HER DEATH.

ASTRONOMICAL ALLIGNMENT

THE MAIN AND AXIS OF THE TEMPLE IS SET TO AN AZIMUTH OF ABOUT 116½° AND IS ALIGNED TO THE
WINTER SOLSTICE SUNRISE,[4] 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 STATUES THAT STAND ON EITHER SIDE OF THE DOORWAY TO THE 2ND
CHAMBER.

HISTORICAL INFLUENCE

HATSHEPSUT’S TEMPLE IS CONSIDERED THE CLOSEST EGYPT CAME TO CLASSICAL ARCHITECTURE.

 REPRESENTATIVE OF NEW KINGDOM FUNERARY ARCHITECTURE, IT BOTH AGGRANDIZES THE PHARAOH AND
[1]

INCLUDES SANCTUARIES TO HONOR THE GODS RELEVANT TO HER AFTERLIFE. [6] THIS MARKS A TURNING POINT IN
THE ARCHITECTURE OF ANCIENT EGYPT, WHICH FORSOOK THE MEGALITHIC GEOMETRY OF THE OLD KINGDOM FOR
A TEMPLE WHICH ALLOWED FOR ACTIVE WORSHIP, REQUIRING THE PRESENCE OF PARTICIPANTS TO CREATE THE
MAJESTY. THE LINEAR AXIALITY OF HATSHEPSUT’S TEMPLE IS MIRRORED IN THE LATER NEW KINGDOM TEMPLES.
THE ARCHITECTURE OF THE ORIGINAL TEMPLE HAS BEEN CONSIDERABLY ALTERED AS A RESULT OF MISGUIDED
RECONSTRUCTION IN THE EARLY TWENTIETH CENTURY AD.