Photo - The Entrance to the Hathor Chapel

I wanted to break up the blog with another photo, again from Hatshepsuts mortuary temple.

This photo is the entrance to the Chapel of Hathor- second tier/ terrace- south side.

With thanks to Dr Karl Leser of Maat-Ka-Ra-Hatschepsut for correcting my original tag for this photo. Originally i stated that it was the "Amun Sanctuary" entrance- incorrectly.

That will teach me for posting too fast. I do encourage feedback like this as i do not wish to mislead anyone. Thanks Dr. Leser.

I will now hand you over to Dr. Leser's excellent website for an in- depth look at the Chapel of Hathor:

http://www.maat-ka-ra.de/english/bauwerke/djeser/dj_chapel_hathor_beschreibung.htm

Stuart

Hatshepsut - Ashmolean Museum

Located in Oxford, UK the Ashmolean Museum houses several pieces from Deir el Bahri, including a limestone block and faience fragments.

I cannot provide specific links, due the the museum having an unlimited online catalogue. That said, they provide a very goo PDF style link of the "Sackler Gallery". Once downloaded, you can then read and search all you like.

I like the look of his museum personally and will plan a visit when time allows for it.

Here is the link to the Sackler Gallery within the Ashmolean Museum:

http://www.ashmolean.org/departments/antiquities/about/AEgypt/?s=deir

Go to "Virtual Visit to the Sackler Gallery"

Stuart

The Karnak Cache

On the subject of cache's (the Deir el Bahri mummy cache being the first mentioned).

At the beginning of the 1900s' in the temple complex at Karnak- 7th pylon- a large number of statues were found covering the Old, Middle and Late kingdoms. Not only pharaohs statues, but priests, viziers, scribes and others are all depicted.

In relation to Hatshepsut i have been able to locate 1 statue, one block from the Red Chapel (they all count!) and a vase. The following link should take you directly to these statues:

http://www.ifao.egnet.net/bases/cachette/

Also represented in the cache are Senenmut/ Neferure (block statue), Thutmose I,II and III. Please use the search bar the link will take you to, to search for any one of the above people. The name Thutmose is spelled Tuthmosis, should you wish to search for Thutmose I,II or III. This name is often spelled in many different ways. I go with Thutmose, but its a tomato/ tomAto thing, no- one is necessarily right.

Stuart

The Deir el Bahri Cache

In 1874 events in Egypt led to the discovery (of the century?) of a cache of Royal Mummies at the site of Deir el Bahri. This site, which actually consists of 3 separate mortuary temples, hugged by a horse-shoe shaped cliff of Limestone (i believe, due to its location right next to the Valley of Kings, which is Limestone throughout).

The cache itself? Well it included Thutmose I, II and III. The father, husband and step- son of Hatshepsut.

For further reading, please visit:

Tour Egypt: www.touregypt.net/featurestories/cache.htm

Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deir_el-Bahri


Hatshepsut was elsewhere.................but that's for another time...

Stuart

Book Suggestion

I have recently acquired Joyce Tyldesley's HATCHEPSUT - The Female Pharaoh (Penguin Books).

I will admit i am reading this book currently (and not in chapter order either, because that would be too easy!)and have yet to complete the book. However i have seen (read?)enough to recommend this book to anyone interested in Hatshepsut (the spelling differences between Joyce and myself are personal choices and neither are incorrect).

This book is readily available at Amazon:

www.amazon.com

Also i felt guilty for using the phrase "the female pharaoh" in previous posts, without crediting Joyce on an excellent book. Discussion forums will also recommend Joyce's work to you, as do i.

Stuart

Blog Update- June 2010

Although this blog was solely intended to log my progress in finding all Hatshepsut- related artifacts i have chosen to relax things where i feel it necessary to discuss (and share)other Hatshepsut- related topics.

I am finding more and more articles, photos, books, dig diaries,etc. Also i am being sent some very good quality material from others wishing to help me. Please do the same if you have something which you think i may be able to use.

I have decided to include some of the above in my future posts. This is to vary the content of this site and to give a slightly wider range of resource material than i have been able to offer until now. All of these will have themes which can be linked to Hatshepsut directly.

Family and important people

* Senenmut
* Neferure
* Thutmose I,II,III
* Ahmose

Excavations:
* Winlock
* Naville
* Carter
* Polish Excavations

I will see how things look towards December/ January to see if the above actually takes the viewer away from the original subject matter. If I think that this blog looks too crowded, i may start another. For now i wish to avoid starting any other projects until this one has had a good length of time to settle down.

Please feel free to leave any comments or contact me if you have anything to add,

Thank you,

Stuart

Hatshepsut - The Petrie Museum

Sir William Flinders Petrie - does he really need an introduction? Well, i think so:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flinders_Petrie

His museum, in London is one of the places we are able to view artifacts from the reign of Hatshepsut. I feel an expensive day trip to London heading my way...

Petrie Museum Online

A interesting assortment of items, mostly fragments. I am sure these will prove useful.

Regards,
Stuart

Hatshepsut - The Vatican

The Vatican Museums have a little piece of Hatshepsut history. They have a lovely commemorative stela featuring the Female Pharaoh and Thutmose III.

The Gregorian Egyptian Museum


This is, so far the first stela i have seen featuring Hatshepsut. I do not know what the Hieroglyphic script says, but it is interesting to see Hatshepsut in front of Thutmose III, in the more senior position, so i think it is fair to assume that the stela was commissioned by Hatshepsut.

Regards,
Stuart

Hatshepsut - The British Museum

I consider myself lucky living in England and having so many different places to visit and see genuine ancient Egyptian Artifacts. One of those places is the British Museum, London.

When searching their website for Hatshepsut i was not disappointed in the slightest. I will not spoil things (much), although i will draw your attention to the Obelisk and the history of its "discovery".

This obelisk is not from Karnak. I think i have covered them, for now at least.

It's stories like this which making tracking Egyptian artifacts a bit of a nightmare to say the least. they do not stand still- that's for sure. It takes none of the fun away though i might add..

Here's the link to the British Museum's Hatshepsut- related items.

Regards,
Stuart

Old Photos - Deir el Bahri

I am becoming a bit of a stickler for old photos-especially old photos which i am able to link to the Hatshepsut project. Although i am unable to give you much information at present of exactly when these were taken, it will become apparent that these must be somewhere between the late 1800s- very early 1900s.

We can be fairly accurate here, owing to the first picture, showing Deir el Bahri before major restoration work and showing little of the features which we see today.

I will talk at a later date about the excavation history of this wonderful site in (modern day) Luxor. I have a few gaps in my information at the moment, so i will wait until i have a complete record.

Thanks to Dr Karl Leser for drawing my attention to these. Dr Leser owns Maat-Ka-Ra- Hatschepsut (website), which you can find a link for at the top of my homepage.

Here's the link:

http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=de&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.aeria.phil.uni-erlangen.de%2Fphoto_html%2Ftopographie%2Faegypten%2F

Thanks Dr. Leser,

Stuart

Fallen Obelisk of Hatshepsut at Karnak?

Credit goes to Kate Phiz(ackerley) for this post on News from the Valley of the Kings

Kate has found some great photos on Flickr showing a number of "Old Stereo Photos of Egypt" dating back to 19th Century. One of them is shown below:

Flickr Stereo Photos

Thanks to SonomaPicMan for uploading this photo on Flickr.

Looking solely at the photo on the left we see the standing obelisk of Thutmose I, Hatshepsut's earthly father (Amun being her divine father) and on the right we see Hatshepsut's own standing obelisk, which i mentioned in my last post.

Both would have had a "twin obelisk" as obelisks were usually (but not always) erected in pairs.

Between the 2 standing obelisks appears to be the fallen obelisk of Hatshepsut. Only the tip is left (see my previous post) and it seems to have fallen in the correct area (or thereabouts) to be the original (or rather final) resting place of the twin obelisk of Hatshepsut in this area.

It does make me wonder what happened to the rest of the obelisk. Could the pieces have been used for later construction (in the form of rubble, blocks cut from the obelisk, etc)? They must be somewhere.

There would have been 2 sets of twin obelisks erected by Hatshepsut in Karnak. Sadly only one remains in tact and in situ. All four bases can be accounted for. As for the 2 "missing" Hatshepsut obelisks i fear we will never know what happened to them. I hope to find out more.

I suggest that Digital Karnak will be the best place to visit for more information here:

Digital Karnak Obelisks

Thanks to SonomaPicMan for uploading this photo on Flickr.

Stuart

Hatshepsut's Obelisk at Karnak

The only standing obelisk of Hatshepsut still left in- situ in Karnak Temple complex, Egypt.

The Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut (Djeser Djeseru at Deir el Bahri) still has scenes showing the quarrying of 2 obelisks from a quarry in Aswan.

The Red Chapel of Hatshepsut (also situated in Karnak- now in the open- air museum) also shows the scenes of Hatshepsut erecting 2 (different) obelisks.

At Karnak today this is the only standing obelisk of Hatshepsut, but not the only one there. At the site of the scared lake, in the Amun Precinct we can see what is generally referred to as the "Fallen Obelisk of Hatshepsut". Only the tip of this obelisk remains and you get to see the Hieroglyphic inscriptions up close. I can tell you they are wonderful. The below photo from my only visit (so far) will give a taster.

Amun, being ever present as Hatshepsut's (divine) father and of course as the main deity worshiped at Karnak Temple.





For more in depth information on both the Obelisks of Hatshepsut, Karnak and the Red Chapel, I recommend a visit to:

Obelisks and Hatshepsut in Karnak -Maat-Ka-Ra-Hatschepsut

Red Chapel -Osirisnet.net

Regards,
Stuart

Hatshepsut - The Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum

This museum, in San Jose includes in their collection a nice cylinder bead of Hatshepsut.

Here it is on the museum's Facebook news page.

Regards,
Stuart

Maat-Ka-Ra Hatschepsut

I have been to the site Maat-Ka-Ra Hatschepsut that many times, i have to share the link:

http://www.maat-ka-ra.de/english/start_e.htm (Dr Karl Leser's website)

Very informative and includes a huge amount of in-depth information which will be a form of guide or bible for this blog and my Hatshepsut studies.

All thanks to Dr Karl Leser

Stuart

Hatshepsut - Boston Museum of Fine Arts

http://www.mfa.org/collections/search_art.asp?coll_keywords=hatshepsut

Also includes the sarcophagus of Thutmose I originally intended for Hatshepsut (one of 3 sarcophagi attributed to Hatshepsut).

A very fine collection,

Regards,
Stuart

Hathor Temple Pillar Photo

I mention in my profile that the first inscription that i had looked into "decoding" was from Deir el Bahri.

Here it is.

"Beloved of Hathor, Chief of Thebes (Luxor), Bestowed with eternal life".

With help from the site- Glyphdoctors.

I might add that i got to "Beloved of Hathor......Thebes..Bestowed with eternal life" Not too bad for a newbie.

Always room for improvement....:)

Stuart

Hatshepsut on Flickr

I am relatively new to Flickr, but am finding it more and more useful when researching the monuments and museum exhibits of Hatshepsut. Below is a link to the site. There is a huge catalogue of Hatshepsut photos and including some of very early excavations at Deir el Bahri, taken in the 1800's and early 1900's. Watch out for these.

To date i have seen 23,727 results on Flickr for Hatshepsut, so is a very useful tool for anyone who has a lot of time on their hands.

The best thing about this site is that if you choose any other search apart from Hatshepsut, you should find almost a library of pictures.

At this point i thank all the contributors on Flickr for the excellent pictures.

Regards,
Stuart

Deir el Bahri - Hathor Temple

One of the many interesting aspects of Hatshepsut's Mortuary Temple is the Hathor Temple. This temple is dedicated to Hathor and is my favorite part of the whole Temple. Its walls are very well decorated and the Hathor columns stand out to all who visit. Sadly i could not gain access to the far reaches of the temple.






The website that i have found most useful for information on the Hathor Temple is:

http://www.maat-ka-ra.de/english/bauwerke/djeser/dj_chapel_hathor_beschreibung.htm

This site is excellent for all things Hatshepsut, take a look for yourselves.

Hatshepsut - Metropolitan Museum of Art

Located in New York, USA.

Here is their online collection of Hatshepsut- related objects.

Metropolitan Museum of Art Hatshepsut

They have a large number of items to view. 395 to date,

Regards,
Stuart

Hatshepsuts Mortuary Temple - Photo

I will add more as i go, but this is the Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut on the West Bank of Luxor. It has been heavily reconstructed and work continues at the site. Even from this distance, this temple is beautiful. I can only wonder how it looked with trees lined outside, a sphinx avenue and complete with many statues.

Good links for this site include:

http://www.maat-ka-ra.de/english/start_e.htm (Maat-Ka-Ra-Hatshepsut, by Dr Karl Leser)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deir_el-Bahri (wiki)

http://www.touregypt.net/bahari.htm (TourEgypt)

Regards,
Stuart

Why Hatshepsut? Why is she so special?

The decision to look at Hatshepsut was very easy for me to make.

I was married in 2008 to Julie and we decided to go to Egypt on a cruise- to start off our married life in style. We decided on a 7 day cruise, to cut a long story short- it was fantastic.

Our excursions included, among others, trips to:

• Deir El Bahri
• Valley of the Kings
• Karnak

I had already been interested in Egypt for around 2 years by then, so i knew a bit (not much, but a bit). I took a pad-and-pen everywhere we went and my wife was in control of the camera. I wrote and pointed excitedly at many things and Julie clicked away until it was time to leave.

When we got home i decided to study all our photos so that i would one day know all the inscriptions, locations, gods, etc,etc on these photos. I could then use this information in some way to share my knowledge. The photo project is ongoing......

After 18 months or so, the Deir el Bahri photos and the broken obelisk photos are the ones that stand out the most. My first ever inscription translation was "beloved of Hathor, Chief of Thebes" on a stone pillar in the Hathor Temple at Deir el Bahari. I must add that i was generously helped by someone on GLYPHDOCTORS. Edmund Meltzer is his name and i hope he doesn't mind me acknowledging his help here.

When we discussed our honeymoon- my wife and I named Deir el Bahri as one of the most memorable of the sites we visited. I have since tried to find out as much as i can about Hatshepsut - The Female Pharaoh.

I now have too much to keep to myself, so i have to share it and I hope this blog (my first, so no miracles to be expected here) will help others in their pursuit of knowledge about this great Pharaoh.

Regards,
Stuart