Deir el-Bahari – Temple of Hatshepsut
Temple of Hatshepsut – The southern part of the central colonnade (the so-called. Porty Puntu) hides famous scenes from the trip to the Land of Punt. This famous portico consists of 22 pillars in two rows.
Variations of a similar scene were repeated on the four sides of the pillars. The expedition took place in the seventh or eighth year of reign, and Punt was perhaps in the vicinity of modern Ethiopia or Eritrea. The expedition was quite an undertaking. Five large ships sailed through the Red Sea, which could fit approx. 200 people, and they arrived after about a month's journey.
The purpose was to bring trees and plants to decorate the sanctuary of Amun, and also gold, incense, mirry, spices, hebanu, ivory, exotic leathers, Wild Animal and Slave Reliefs show Punt and its inhabitants, including obese, queen suffering from lipodystrophy (it is a copy – the original is in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo).
These are the first "ethnographic" reliefs showing a culture other than Egyptian.
There are also gifts and their loading onto ships and the stage, where the princes of Puntu come to the Nile, to pay tribute to the Queen. On the left hand, at the end of the central colonnade, there is a chapel of Hathor. During the Beautiful Feast of the Valley, a barge stopped here on the way to the Sanctuary of Amon-Re on the upper terrace. This is one of the largest and most important temple complexes. It consists of a vestibule, a hypostyle hall and a rock-cut sanctuary with a vestibule with two columns and two rooms.
They are located in the vestibule accessible from the Portico of Punt (in the middle) two rows of pillars with Hatoric capitals. The eastern and western parts are filled with two groups of columns (four on each side). The ceiling of the hypostyle hall, which lies on a higher level, holds up 12 column. The walls of the vestibule and the hypostyle hall are decorated with scenes from Hathor and the sacrifice of the goddess in the form of a cow. Part of the chapel is carved in rock (barred by a goal) it consists of a vestibule with two columns and the actual beautifully decorated sanctuary (two rooms with niches). In one of them (on the right, invisible) hides Senenmut, who wanted to participate with the queen in the most important ceremonies.
Directly ahead, the Queen stands between Amon and Hathor, and on the left, Hatshepsut, with the royal chin attached and the double crown of the ruler of Egypt, makes offerings to the divine host.
The second ramp with falcon statues leads to the upper Christmas courtyard, preceded by a colonnade of Osirian pillars with the queen's colossi on both sides. The road leads to the portico courtyard put into use after years of difficult work by the Polish team. There are relief representations of the Beautiful Valley of the Valley. On the north side of the courtyard you can see a chapel dedicated to the solar cult, where the cult of Re-Iorachte was performed. It consists of a vestibule with columns and a courtyard with a solar altar in the middle.
In the north wall of the courtyard is the entrance to the upper chapel of Anubis (unavailable) with two rooms carved into the rock - a sanctuary and an annex. In the rituals, the jackcale Anubis plays the main role, patron of mummification. South Face (reconstructed by Polish conservators) is the entrance to the Chapel of Amun (west corner), in the middle is the entrance to the Royal Worship Chapels, reached by the procession during the royal jubilee. The doorframes were decorated with representations of Amon embracing Hatshepsut. Inside, the Queen stands between Hathor and Amon. The entire ensemble consisted of the vestibule, Hatshepsut chapel, Chapel of Thotmes I and Chapel of Amun-Min with an entrance from the main courtyard. Hatshepsut's chapel is decorated with numerous images of the queen, converted to Thotmes III. Princess Ncferure, the daughter of Hatshepsut and the first wife of Thotmes, by changing the headgear, it was converted into a queen Ahmes.
Straight from the entrance to the courtyard, the Main Chapel of Amun-Rc, carved in the rock, has been preserved.
Here, during the Beautiful Festival of the Valley, a statue of Amun was placed.
On the pillars of the Hatshepsut portal, Thotmescm III was replaced. The facade of the sanctuary of Amun-Re is a series of - originally covered with a colonnade - alternating high and low niches, where the statues of the queen stood. Thotmes III ordered the queen's cartouches to be crafted, and her images usurped. The deepest room was carved under Ptolemy VIII Euergetes II and dedicated to the cult of Imhotep and Amenhotep, son of Hapu. It was a kind of sanctuary–sanatorium, where the sick were coming.