The temple of Mentuhotep

The temple of Mentuhotep II (or I) Neb-Hepet-Re was the first one built

Mentuhotep

in Deir el Bahari. It was called "Akh-set(w)-Nebhepetre: i.e. "Splendid (or Useful) are the places of Nebhepetre". Because of its ruinous state, with very few reliefs, it is seldom photographed.

Neb-Hepet-Re

This temple is a transition between the Old Kingdom temple of the pyramid, and the New Kingdom House of Millions of Years. For the first time, the tomb of the king is united with its mortuary temple. The New Kingdom will later separate the tomb (in the Valley of the Kings) from the House of Millions of Years. It was the (very lucky) Howard Carter who discovered the burial shaft when his horse stumbled into its rubble-filled entrance in 1900.
The temple was discovered in the 1860’s and was excavated by Edouard Naville between 1903 and 1907, and then by Herbert Winlockh between 1921 and 1930.
The multileveled construction and the plan were entirely new, with no equivalent dating from the Old Kindom.
The complex had a valley temple and a 1,2 km causeway leading to the temple itself.
At the lower level there was a pillared lower hall with two rows of octogonal, decorated, colums.
The upper level had a covered central core dedicated to Mentu-Re (Mentu was a primeval god of Thebes, revered by the the warrior kings that had to reunify Egypt after the anarchy of the First Intermediate Period). The roof may have been flat, or topped by an earth mound. The whole terrace was perhaps conceived as a replica of the primeval mound. The enclosure contained chapels and shaft tombs for the king's wives and family.
Around this core was an upper hall with three rows of colums.
The rear part was devoted to the cult of the deified king, who had a statue in a small chapel. Later this was converted in an Amun sanctuary.

Comments

Tomb of Pabasa (TT279)

Pabasa, who was also called Pabes, has a large tomb at Asasif, just outside the entrance to Hatshepsut’s temple at Deir el-Bahri. Like Ankh-hor, who held this important title after him, he was the ‘Chief Steward of the God’s Wife Nitocris’ (Neitiqert) during the reign of Saite king Psamtek I. Pabasa’s tomb still has a large mudbrick superstructure. A steep flight of stairs leads down to the entrance of the subterranean levels and on the lintel above the doorway is a fine relief of a barque, adored by the souls of Pe and Nekhen, by the God’s Wife, Nitocris and by the deceased. A small vestibule leads to a larger pillared sun court. The vestibule shows scenes of Pabasa’s funeral procession, including mourners and the ‘Abydos Pilgrimage’. There is a long text of Pabasa and depictions of his son, Thahorpakhepesh, who acted as sem-priest at his father’s funeral. On the inner lintel of the entrance to the court, a relief shows Osiris and Re-Horakhty, in the cent...

The bindweeds of Egypt and their symbolic role for the deceased

http://www.egyptraveluxe.com/cairo_half_day_tour_to_cairo_egyptian_museum.php From the Middle Kingdom until the 18th Dynasty, representations are found of a parasitic bindweed associated with the stems of papyrus, . Its representations increase and refine themselves during the Amarnian period because of the naturalistic leaning to nature; but it is in Ramesside times, and more particularly that of Ramesses II, that the images become more beautiful and most detailed. The plant is frequently attached to the stem of the papyrus, or to bouquets, but being also able to, more rarely, exist separately. After the 20th Dynasty, if the theme persists, the quality of the representations decrease (as do all more representations of nature). This success under the Ramesseses is probably linked with the specific beliefs of that time, and notably the eminent place that the solar cults occupy. The nature of the plant has been under debate a long time ...

US authorities return eight stolen ancient Egyptian artifacts

US authorities agreed to return eight ancient Egyptian artifacts stolen and illegally smuggled out of the country. Today, upon his arrival from the United States, Minister of Antiquities Mohamed Ibrahim announced that US authorities agreed to return eight ancient Egyptian artefacts stolen and illegally smuggled out of the country. The objects are to arrive next month. The pieces include the upper part of a painted anthropoid wooden sarcophagus from the Third Intermediate period depicting a face of a woman wea ring a wig decorated with coloured flowers. Two linen mummy wrappings covered with plaster and bearing paintings showing winged amulets pushing the sun disc are also among the artefacts. Hieroglyphic text showing the name and titles of the deceased are also found on the plaster cover. The third piece is a cartonage painted mummy mask from the Third Intermediate period while the fourth and fifth items are Middle Kingdom wooden boats. The other three items are lim...

Search This Blog