Deir el-Bahari Research Articles

The Author Takes a Bow: A Self-Portrait in Assistenza in the Temple of Hatshepsut at Deir el-Bahari

The Author Takes a Bow: A Self-Portrait in Assistenza in the Temple of Hatshepsut at Deir el-Bahari

Polychrome relief decoration in the Sanctuary of the Hathor Shrine: preliminary remarks

The article reports on a conservation project carried out in the Sanctuary of the Hathor Shrine at the Temple of Hatshepsut in Deir el-Bahari within the framework of the Polish-Egyptian Archaeological and Conservation Expedition in 2023. The project, launched this season, aims to investigate the technique and technology of Eighteenth Dynasty polychrome relief decoration in the Sanctuary and to assess the state of its preservation in order to establish an appropriate conservation approach. In addition, an appraisal of previous conservation and restoration treatments in the Hathor Shrine was conducted. Preliminary cleaning tests were also performed to aid planning further works. The research led to a preliminary identification of deterioration factors, as well as types of damage to the limestone, plaster, and painting layers. Unique in this respect were the changes in color of the polychrome decoration and limestone, likely caused by high-temperature chemical reactions.

Publishing and Studying a Group of Hieratic Ostraca from Deir el-Bahri

Publishing and Studying a Group of Hieratic Ostraca from Deir el-Bahri

Three Memoranda of the 21st Dynasty at Deir el-Bahari

Summary Newly found hieratic graffiti in the temple of Hatshepsut at Deir el-Bahari enable shedding new light on the history of the area in the period of the 21st Dynasty. Three of them, written in the form of memoranda relating presumably to work done in the area, can be dated to the very end of the pontificate of the high-priest Menkheperre. There are good reasons to relate them to a burial or burials in the neighbouring Bab el-Gasus cache or else to the work done in this tomb at an early stage of its building history.

Ingeniøren og de ægyptiske mumier: En kioskbasker fra 1910’erne

Thomas Christiansen: The Engineer and the Egyptian Mummies: A Scoop from the 1910s
 The article contains a wealth of new and valuable information on important ancient Egyptian objects that are today housed and on display in the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek in Copenhagen and the Museum of Ancient Art (Antikmuseet) in Aarhus. Using Mediestream – a service provided by the Royal Library that allows you to access and search more than 35 million digitised Danish newspaper pages – it tells the curious story of a Danish engineer, Jacob Kjeldsen (1873‑1914), and three ancient Egyptian mummiesand coffins from the 21st Dynasty (c. 1070‑950 BCE).
 From the study of these newspapers it emerges that, during a trip to Egypt in 1910, Kjeldsen had acquired three mummies and coffins in Luxor from Mohammed Abd er-Rasul – a son of the infamous antiquities dealer Mohammed Ahmed Abd er-Rasul – who had discovered them in a tomb in Deir el-Bahari. Shortly after Kjeldsen’s return to Copenhagen, descriptions of the objects began to circulate in the press, and ValdemarSchmidt (1836‑1925), the first Danish Egyptologist, acquired the coffin and mummy of a priest of Amun by the name of Khonshotep for the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek (inv. ÆIN 1069).
 During the autumn of the same year, Kjeldsen tried to sell his two remaining mummies, both female priestesses of Amun, and their coffins to the Museum of Aarhus (Aarhus Museum), but without success. Instead, they were impounded and auctioned off by the town magistrate in 1912, because Kjeldsen owed money to a patent office inCopenhagen. This is the last reference to the two mummies in the newspapers, until one of them cropped up out of the blue in Aarhus.
 In 1950 the newspapers reported that an industrialist, Ivan Lystager (1904‑1985), had donated an Egyptian mummy and coffin to the newly founded Museum of Ancient Art in Aarhus. The name, Taubasti, and titles, ‘Lady of the House’ and ‘Chantress of Amun’, inscribed on the coffin (inv. O 303) leave no room for doubt that it and the accompanying mummy once belonged to Kjeldsen. A letter in the archives of the museum informs us that Lystager had bought them in an antiquities shop in Copenhagen in 1939.
 The fate of Kjeldsen’s last mummy and coffin and their current whereabouts are still unknown. From the newspapers it can be deduced that the coffin stems from the same period (the 21st Dynasty) and was made for a woman, who also bore the titles ‘Lady of the House’ and ‘Chantress of Amun’, and probably answered to the name of Tamit.
 Because of onomastics and the fact that the three coffins all derive from the same period and were made for members of clergy of Amun in Thebes, it is likely that Mohammed Abd er-Rasul found the three mummies interred together in an unknown family tomb in Deir el-Bahari in 1910. The article is therefore supplemented with an appendix, which provides a catalogue of the names and titles inscribed in hieroglyphs on the two coffins in the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek and the Museum of Ancient Art. Hopefully, it can assist researchers in the search for the now lost coffin and mummy (and potentially other grave goods from the same tomb) in state and private ancient Egyptian collections around the world.

Ancient Egyptian Painted Textile from the collection of R. de Rustafjaell

The paper represents the first detailed publication of the Ancient Egyptian painted textile of the New Kingdom from the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow (I,1а 6113). Formerly it belonged to the R. de Rustafjaell Collection. The purpose of the paper is to introduce a museum object, which was previously known only from a brief description and an early 20th-century black-and-white photograph, into scholarly discourse. The textile belongs to a group of painted cloths (about 30 in total) of the late 18th and early 19th Dynasty (14–13 centuries B.C.). They all have scenes of worship of the goddess Hathor. These cloths were brought as votive offerings to Hathor into her shrine in Deir el-Bahri. On the Pushkin Museum textile, the goddess is depicted as a sacred cow. Seven donators face her: three men and four women. These persons were most likely the members of a single family (parents and their children). Technological analysis shows that the painted textiles from Deir el-Bahri were both of professional and domestic production. The rather low quality of the threads as well as poor workmanship (the tension of the warp and weft threads was poorly regulated, the end of the right edge was not even, the density of the cloth was not uniform, there were other weaving errors as well) suggest that the manufacture of the Pushkin Museum textile was not the work of a professional weaver. The painting, on the other hand, was obviously done in a workshop by professional artists.

Enigma of the niches in the eastern wall of the Royal Mortuary Cult Complex in the Temple of Hatshepsut at Deir el-Bahari

The paper offers an explanation of the misalignment of blocks and their decorations in two cultic niches in the vestibule of the Chapel of Hatshepsut in the Royal Mortuary Cult Complex. Detachment of the niches from the adjacent walls, discrepancies in their dimensions, and intentional absence of jambs have led the author to conclude that the niches were reconstructed in this spot after having been removed from their original location in another part of the temple. As the previously matching elements were reassembled in the new location during the reign of Queen Hatshepsut, the correct reconstruction of their decoration proved impossible, as the decorated blocks were irreversibly damaged.

Unpublished Stela Fragment of A Woman from Deir el-Bahari

Unpublished Stela Fragment of A Woman from Deir el-Bahari

Found in the Folds: A Rediscovery of Ancient Egyptian Pleated Textiles and the Analysis of Carbohydrate Coatings

Charles T. Currelly, first director of the Royal Ontario Museum, participated in excavations of the tomb of King Nebhepetre, now known as Mentuhotep II, (Dynasty XI) in Deir el-Bahri, Egypt in 1906. He brought to Canada many objects from the excavations, and objects that he purchased while in Egypt; these formed the initial collection of the museum. Among the objects were seven fragments of fine linen cloth with intricate pleat patterns. Recently, the cloths became the subject of a study to learn how they had retained their pleats for 4000 years. Samples were examined and analysed using polarised light microscopy, scanning electron microscopy-electron dispersive X-ray spectrometry, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, and pyrolysis-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Three of the cloths were likely fragments of clothing re-purposed as bandages and were found to be saturated in mummification balms composed of Pinaceae resin, Pistacia resin, and an essential oil characterised by a high abundance of cedrol, possibly originating from a juniper species. All seven of the cloths were found to have traces of polysaccharides from two probable sources: an arabinogalactan gum such as gum arabic or a fruit gum, and a polyglucoside, possibly starch.

Post-New Kingdom topography and chronology of the Hatshepsut Temple at Deir el-Bahari in light of new archaeological evidence

Around 1000 BCE, an earthquake brought down many temples in Western Thebes, thus putting an end to the cult centre at Deir el-Bahari which had been a key site for the celebration of the Beautiful Feast of the Valley all through the New Kingdom. Within a few dozen years the deserted chapels and rooms of the Hatshepsut temple were turned into a burial ground. The necropolis established on the ruins of one of the most famous temples of Egypt was first excavated in the 19th century; however, current work by the Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology University of Warsaw expedition in the Hathor cult complex of the temple of the female pharaoh has resulted in the discovery of a group of shaft tombs and a great number of burial remains. These new finds have instigated a revisiting of both the topography and the chronology of this reuse of the older monument, as well as a contextualization of the work of the early explorers which has gradually been forgotten partly through lack of proper documentation.

Basketry, matting, cordage, and other organic objects from Deir el-Bahari

Organic artifacts made of plant fibres are frequently found on Egyptian sites. Numerous baskets, mats, cordage, brushes and small items of daily use were collected, classified and documented during the Polish excavations in the Temple of Hatshepsut (Deir el-Bahari, Upper Egypt). These artifacts reflect the long history of the temple site in Deir el-Bahari, from the Pharaonic period through the times of the Christian monastery of St Phoibammon established in the ruins. Pending detailed archaebotanical analyses in the future, the raw material has been recognized as locally sourced.

Tombs of Coptic anchorites at the site of the Temple of Hatshepsut in Deir el-Bahari

Early Coptic tombs, two at least, were discovered on the Upper Terrace of the Temple of Hatshepsut at Deir el-Bahari. The orientation of the tombs is north–south, which is the typical orientation for early Christian tombs. Christian activity is attested at Deir el-Bahari in contexts starting from the 4th century.

What an artist saw. Tracing the local iconographic tradition for the Temple of Hatshepsut at Deir el-Bahari

An unusual iconographic motif—a fringed piece of linen—depicted in the Chapel of Hatshepsut, part of the queen’s temple at Deir el-Bahari, is examined in this paper as an illustration of the interest, well attested in Hatshepsut’s reign, in past artistic models/sources. The Chapel of Hatshepsut was intended for the mortuary cult of the female pharaoh, while the motif under discussion appears to have been inspired by decoration earlier by 500 years, found inside a burial chamber cut into the rock cliff of North Asasif, which is a natural continuation of the Deir el-Bahari amphitheater. The tomb (TT 311) belonged to Khety, a courtier of the Eleventh Dynasty pharaoh Mentuhotep II Nebhepetra. Assuming the validity of this iconographic link, the question arises concerning the accessibility of decorated burial chambers from the Eleventh-Dynasty in this area and their possible role as “pattern books” in the design of the early Eighteenth Dynasty private and royal mortuary monuments. In addition, the paper addresses the issue of the Chapel of Hatshepsut serving as a monumental “pattern book” for the Late Period Theban tombs.

The Main Sanctuary of Amun-Ra in the Hatshepsut Temple at Deir el-Bahari. An introduction to architectural studies

The Main Sanctuary of Amun-Ra in the Temple of Hatshepsut in Deir el-Bahari has been studied repeatedly, but never comprehensively (Naville 1906; Winlock 1932; Wysocki 1985). In preparation for a full architectural study of this complex, which is one of the oldest parts of the Eighteenth Dynasty mortuary temple, the paper presents a general specification of the preserved architecture, contextualized in a brief account of the discovery of the sanctuary and the history of its restoration and conservation, tied by necessity with the bigger works conducted by Polish specialists in the temple itself. The sanctuary in its present state is the combined effect of a number of phases of development, the most recent being a rebuilding in the Ptolemaic period. The inventory drawings of the current state of the complex, made by the author, an architect, leave the reader with a good idea of the form of the sanctuary, opening the way to a comprehensive architectural study, which will trace the original plan through all the subsequent phases of development and modern conservation and restoration work.

Lintel decoration types from the Temple of Hatshepsut at Deir el-Bahari and their meaning

Examination of the set of preserved gate lintels from the Temple of Hatshepsut in Deir el-Bahari has revealed two models of the iconographic decoration: one that emphasizes pictorial content in the form of scenes of a cultic or symbolic nature, with inscriptions playing merely a complementary role, and the other based on the textual message alone. The use of a given model of lintel decoration appears to be a measure either of the function of the room or, more broadly, of the space, accessed through the gate, or of the context of the wall decoration around the entrance.

Geological appraisal of the Theban cliff overhanging the Hatshepsut temple at Deir el-Bahari

Throughout its existence the Temple of Hatshepsut, as well as two other royal sanctuaries, the temples of Mentuhotep II and Thutmose III, located in the great bay of Deir el-Bahari, have been under constant threat of falling rocks from the overhanging Theban cliff. The PCMA UW archaeological expedition at Deir el-Bahari, which has progressed with the study and conservation of the Hatshepsut temple since the 1960s, has implemented a project designed to address the issue of the protection of the temple from damages that could be caused by environmental processes (rainwater and seismic activity) affecting the Theban cliff behind the monument. In a geological survey of the fractured limestone cliff, the evidence from 31 observation stations was appraised and samples of Esna Shale and Theban Limestone were examined in order to ascertain the degree of the cliff’s instability and fragility. The results were used to prepare a 2D model presenting the environmental processes threatening the ancient substance.

Pottery from Tomb MMA 28 at Deir el-Bahari: preliminary remarks

The clearance of Tomb MMA 28 at Deir el-Bahari yielded mixed pottery material dating from the Middle Kingdom to modern times. The article presents, in chronological order, some of the most characteristic vessels representing each phase (with the exception of the late Roman period, which is to be studied separately). Among them are Middle Kingdom pointed bottles and Marl C jars, New Kingdom double and triple bottles, kernoi, beer jars and blue-painted pottery, as well as Ptolemaic painted pottery.

(Un)usual? Glass finds from the site of the Hatshepsut Temple in Deir el-Bahari

A group of glass shards recovered from the fill of shaft tombs from the Third Intermediate Period on the Upper Terrace of the Temple of Hatshepsut in Deir el-Bahari consists for the most part of non-diagnostic body vessel fragments. At least 17 different vessels are attested in this assemblage, assigned to the 4th century AD, with only two pieces dated to the 1st–3rd centuries AD. In addition to the vessels, a few windowpanes from the 6th–8th century AD were also found. This small group of glass finds is the first ever to be published from the Temple of Hatshepsut.

Archaeological investigations in the Temple of Hatshepsut at Deir el-Bahari in the 2020/2021 season

The paper presents the results of archaeological exploration in parts of the Hatshesut Temple, carried out by the Polish–Egyptian team in the 2020/2021 season. Excavations focused on the Southern Room of Amun on the Third Terrace of the Temple, the platform of the Hathor Shrine on the Middle Terrace level, and the so-called Hathor Path located between the southern retaining wall of the Middle Terrace and the northern stone wall of the main enclosure of Mentuhotep II’s mortuary complex. Of particular interest are the finds from an early Middle Kingdom rock-cut tomb in the western part of the Hathor Path, where remains of the original burial assemblage, a large deposit of votive offerings to the goddess Hathor and fragments of a yellow coffin were discovered.

Digital Unwrapping of the Mummy of King Amenhotep I (1525-1504 BC) Using CT.

The mummy of King Amenhotep I (18th Dynasty c.1525–1504 BC) was reburied by the 21st Dynasty priests at Deir el-Bahari Royal Cache. In 1881 the mummy was found fully wrapped and was one of few royal mummies that have not been unwrapped in modern times. We hypothesized that non-invasive digital unwrapping using CT would provide insights on the physical appearance, health, cause of death, and mummification style of the mummy of King Amenhotep I. We examined the mummy with CT and generated two- and three-dimensional images for the head mask, bandages, and the virtually unwrapped mummy. CT enabled the visualization of the face of Amenhotep I who died around the age of 35 years. The teeth had minimal attrition. There was no CT evidence of pathological changes or cause of death. The body has been eviscerated via a vertical left flank incision. The heart is seen in the left hemithorax with an overlying amulet. The brain has not been removed. The mummy has 30 amulets/jewelry pieces including a beaded metallic (likely gold) girdle. The mummy suffered from multiple postmortem injuries likely inflicted by tomb robbers that have been likely treated by 21st Dynasty embalmers. These included fixing the detached head and neck to the body with a resin-treated linen band; covering a defect in the anterior abdominal wall with a band and placing two amulets beneath; placement of the detached left upper limb beside the body and wrapping it to the body. The transversely oriented right forearm is individually wrapped, likely representing the original 18th Dynasty mummification and considered the first known New Kingdom mummy with crossed arms at the chest. The head mask is made of cartonnage and has inlaid stone eyes. The digital unwrapping of the mummy of Amenhotep I using CT sets a unique opportunity to reveal the physical features of the King non-invasively, understand the mummification style early in the 18th Dynasty, and the reburial intervention style by 21st Dynasty embalmers. This study may make us gain confidence in the goodwill of the reburial project of the Royal mummies by the 21st dynasty priests.