Hat-Shirt-Suit Temple

And so the 2nd half of this day begins, staying near the Valley of the Kings to visit The Mortuary Temple of Queen Hatshepsut. I knew nothing about her or this site until our arrival here! Imagine the site behind us lined with massive sphinxes, probably 20 in all, 10 lining each side of the pathway, with gardens and trees planted in front. Queen Hatshepsut is reported to be the first person to import and plant trees, Myrrh trees from her famous voyage to Punt.

She was a Pharoah's, rare, and I don't know enough to tell you whether she was the only one. But her role in history was one of solidifying Egypt's base, reinvigorating trading partnerships, mending political fences, improving the lives of her citizens. She became co-ruler with her young, young son, when her husband died (Thutmose II or III), and gradually assumed more and more leadership until she declared herself King. She had grown up in a royal household so was well-versed in the machinations. History looks favourably upon her 20+ year rule.

The Mortuary Temple was reserved for the Pharoah's and his/her priests. It was built as a holy place, where the Pharoah would go to receive rites, to cleanse themselves, to accept the Divine, to be in touch with the Gods and receive their blessings. The larger it was, the holier they seemed, the more impressed the citizens were. There are a series of approaches, and the closer you get to the final sanctuary within the Temple, the fewer the priests that would have had access. It is still an active archeological site with the Polish government.

Her contemporaries thought she was crazy building her Temple here, at the time, it was far from anything, at the foot of cliffs, barren. She forged ahead convinced that it would last thousands and thousands of years. It has!

Below top,  left is her likeness, right is the one remaining Sphinx that lined the approach, the other two photos highlight the engraving, color and reliefs within the temple.

A brief synopsis of Hatshepsut can be read here.

What was very cool about this photo below, Claudia is explaining to me the solstice sun point, how the alignment of the entire temple is in concert with the 4 cardinal points ( or something like that!). The sun god, Ra, or Amun, is deified here, and during one of the solstices, the point of life moves across one of the walls that is hieroglyph end with his praise. In the photo on the right, looking at it was NOT this color, and Marc was shocked to see the red hues in the frame. 

There is the story of her epic trade mission to Punt that we will look up and read again. The engineering feat of boat building at the time is really quite incredible, and told in hieroglyphs on one of the inner temple chambers that still has paint on it!

Pretty awesome visit!