Deir el-Bahri
From Freepedia
Deir el-Bahri (Arabic دير البحري dayr al-baḥrī, literally meaning, “The Northern Monastery”) is a complex of mortuary temples and tombs located on the west bank of the Nile, opposite the city of Luxor, Egypt. The first monument built at the site was the mortuary temple of Mentuhotep II of the Eleventh dynasty. During the Eighteenth dynasty, Amenhotep I and Hatshepsut also built extensively at the site.
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Mortuary Temple of Mentuhotep II
.The first king of the Middle Kingdom, Mentuhotep II built a combined mortuary temple and tomb in the cliffs at Deir el-Bahri.
It consists of a ramp up to a flattened terrace, which had a 'structure' on it (this may have been a pyramid or a simple mound). This structure was surrounded been a pillared hall (see image). Behind this structure was an open court, then a hypostyle hall, and then the sanctuary and tomb of the king himself.
The shaft and subsequent tunnel descend for 150 m and end in a burial chamber 45 m below the court. The chamber held a shrine, which once held the wooden coffin of Mentuhotep II.
Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut (Djeser-Djeseru)
The focal point of this complex is the Djeser-Djeseru meaning the Sublime of Sublimes, a colonnaded structure, which was designed and implemented by Senemut, royal stewart of Hatshepsut, to serve for her posthumous worship. Djeser-Djeseru sits atop a series of terraces that once were graced with gardens and is built into a cliff face that rises sharply above it.
Mortuary Temple of Thutmoses III
Private Tombs
See also
External links
- Egypt Index at Bluffton University
- The Cache at Deir el-Bahri – Archaeology at About.com
- The Temple Djeser djeseru
