The funeral temple of the pharaoh Mentukhotep II: the year of foundation, photo, description

The stepped temple of Pharaoh Mentukhotep II, ruler of the XI dynasty, which united Egypt at the end of the First Transitional Period, is located on the West Bank in Luxor (ancient Thebes). It was built in the era of the Egyptian pyramids and includes many of their elements. Perhaps the temple even had a pyramidal superstructure. The name of the tomb - "The places of worship of Nebhepetra shine blissfully."

History of research

In many respects, the funeral temple of the pharaoh Mentukhotep II (photo see in the article) was a source of historical discoveries, so it is not surprising that his research was carried out by a wide variety of teams. It was the first temple in western Thebes, where the cult of the goddess Hathor was, and was a harbinger of the new theological concept of the "Temple of the Million Years", which will become popular during the New Kingdom.

Temple of the pharaoh Mentuhotep II, the year of its foundation - 2000 BC. E., was discovered in the second half of the 19th century by Lord Dufferin. Edouard Naville and Henry Hall May were the first modern scientists who studied it in 1903-1907 with the support of the Egyptian research fund. From 1911 to 1931 the complex was studied by a group from the New York Metropolitan Museum under the leadership of Herbert Winlock. However, no one could complete the excavation, so the temple was not fully surveyed before the German archaeological institute in Cairo under the leadership of Dieter Arnold did not excavate in 1968-1971.

Where is the temple of the pharaoh Mentuhotep II?

Pharaoh chose a site on the rocky hillside, in modern Deir el-Bahri, where some of his predecessors of the First Transition Period erected tomb-saffs. Saff in Arabic means "row", and the tombs were called so because of rows of columns around their facades. Most Egyptologists agree that the funerary temple of Pharaoh Mentukhotep II combined the architectural elements of such tombs and pyramidal complexes, although only a few came to a consensus on its original appearance.

The complex consisted of the Valley Temple, the ruins of which lie under the fields on the edge of the Nile valley and, probably, also under the ruins of the temple of Ramses IV. Paved, terraced temple of the pharaoh Mentukhotep II (see photo in the article), partially embedded in the rocks, with an underground burial chamber. Winlock believed that his construction took place in 3 stages, while Arnold spoke of four phases. The complex is oriented from east to west, but it deviates slightly to the north.

The plan of the temple

Although not much is known about the Valley Temple, the paved path to it, unlike most similar structures, was open, with statues of Osiris along the sides at unequal intervals. He ended up in the main temple complex with a wide courtyard surrounded by a wall of flagstone.

In the back yard on the west side stood a massive temple with a terrace for the pharaoh Mentukhotepa ii. The facade of the lower column hall consisted of a portico built of blocks of limestone. This portico, with a double row of columns, was divided in two by a ramp leading to the second terrace. Initially, the walls of the portico were decorated with scenes of battle.

The temple of Pharaoh Mentuhotep II in Deir el-Bahri, like the later temples located here, had a wide ramp of blocks of limestone and rows parallel to planted plane trees and tamarisks, providing access to the second, main level. The terrace can be divided into three sections - an outer hall with a portico and a colonnade, surrounding a covered arcade from the north, south and east, centered in the middle of the gallery.

The outer part of the portico of this level, as well as the lower one, consisted of two rows of columns of limestone. It is often called the "upper column hall." The front part of the columns was decorated with scenes depicting Mentuhotep II and various gods, with inscriptions on low bas-relief. The rear walls of the column hall around the inner gallery were slightly inclined and decorated inside and out. We can assume that once they were the external facade of the gallery. This, as well as other evidence led Egyptologists to the conclusion that the column hall was built later.

The entrance to the eastern wing of the column hall of the portico is located on the main axis of the complex and leads to the inner gallery. The latter, from the point of view of ancient Egyptian architecture, can be called a part of the roof, enveloping the edges of the structure and supported by pillars. Most galleries are surrounded by an open courtyard, but in this case it covers the inner core of the structure. In this gallery in two rows from the west and three rows on the other sides stood 140 octagonal columns. The gallery was dimly lit through openings in the outer wall near the outer portico.

Temple of the Pharaoh Mentukhotep II: history of creation

Inside the gallery there was, according to Egyptologists, a symbolic version of the original grave mound. It is believed that it was made of hard clay roughly in the form of a cube, probably surrounded by slabs of limestone. She could speak on the top terrace through the gallery. This is still the subject of discussion.

Naville, the first to explore the temple of Pharaoh Mentuhotep II in Deir el-Bahri, believed that this core is a pyramid built on a rocky base. A number of scientists refute his assumption. For example, Arnold rejected Naville's argument, mainly because there is no evidence that can confirm this. There are no destroyed sloping walls of the pyramid and its top, so it views it as a more or less rectangular terrace with a flat roof and with a stylized representation of the original mound. Stadelmann offers a variant of Arnold with a sandy hill planted with trees. It binds an ancient mound with faith in Osiris.

A pyramid or not?

The debate on these issues arose not only under the influence of the absence of any ruins of the construction of the upper terrace, but also in connection with inconsistent documentary sources. For example, Abbot's papyrus definitely calls the construction a pyramid. Arnold gives 2 fragments of inscriptions with the names of the structure, and this is not a pyramid. The American Egyptologist L. Bull understands the name as "a truncated pyramid or obelisk rising above another structure." The obelisk seems to be a solar disk, of which Bull says that from him "as a rule, two rays from each side emanate". The inscription on the stele XII of the Tutu dynasty represents the greatest temple of the pharaoh Mentuhotep II in Deir el-Bahri hieroglyphic sign of the pyramid. Near the temple was found graffiti of the times of the New Kingdom, which treats the tomb as a terrace with an obelisk that ends with a pyramidal peak.

Despite this, most Egyptologists tend to think that the upper superstructure of the pyramid shape did not have. For example, in Abbott Papyrus, other tombs, which are clearly not pyramids, were also called pyramids. Therefore, Egyptologists believe that the funerary temple of the pharaoh Mentuhotep II did not have the form of a funerary pyramid. Most likely, the tradition of monumental tombs was so closely associated with the pyramid at this time that its hieroglyph was used to refer to all such structures. Nevertheless, this discussion is far from complete. Perhaps, new archaeological discoveries will be able to clarify this issue.

The burial place of the consort

On the western side of the second-level terrace, a series of six mine tombs were cut down in the rock. They were clearly integrated into the temple, when the expansion of the building to the west began. Their underground plots were built of blocks of limestone, with false doors and iconic statues. Apparently, female members of the royal family were buried in the tombs. It is interesting that they all died young, the oldest of them was 22 years old, and the youngest - only 5 years old. Egyptologists suggest that they could die at about the same time due to an accident or epidemic. Only four of them wore the title of royal consort. Arnold believes that the rest could be the priestesses of the goddess Hathor, although Callendar maintains that they were the "diplomatic" spouses of Mentuhotep II, necessary to stabilize and unite the country after the chaotic period of the First Transition Period.

Among the consort, there are two women, especially different. One of them, a Nubian, whose significance is confirmed by a decorated wooden coffin, was named Ashayette. The other, Cavit, had a wide sarcophagus of limestone with beautiful reliefs, which is now located in the Egyptian Museum of Antiquities in Cairo.

Hypostylus

The funeral temple of the pharaoh Mentuhotep II was extended to the west a short time after its construction. This expansion included an open courtyard with columns, Egypt's first large hypostyle, a chapel for different gods, and a temple carved into a rock, referred to as Spoos. During construction of the yard, sandstone was used. From the south, east and north, the courtyard was surrounded by octagonal columns. In addition, there were 82 columns in the hypostyle. The floor of the hall was made of limestone, and the walls were made of sandstone.

Spoos

In Speos at the far western end of the complex is a long vaulted hall with a niche for the statue at its very end. Here the floor is covered with sandstone, and the walls are made of limestone. There was a low ramp that led to the altar from the rear (the westernmost part), set in front of the niche and an enlarged statue of the pharaoh. This altar, according to Mark Lehner, was the center of the entire temple complex. The room was originally a false door. Among other religious objects found in Speos, is the sitting statue of the god Amon. A small chapel, located at the eastern corner of the annex of the western courtyard, served as a place of worship for several major gods, including Amun, Mont, Osiris and Hathor, whose statues were discovered and sent to the Egyptian Antiquities Museum.

Funerary chamber

On the axis of the colonnade of the courtyard in this western annex is a vaulted downward corridor, originally trimmed with limestone, which suddenly breaks off, and its remainder consists of coarse rock. He leads down into a room called the pharaoh's burial chamber. Naville explored the corridor and funerary chamber in 1906, and Arnold in 1971. There were about six hundred wooden figures in the niches along the corridor walls, which were parts of models of workshops, bakeries and boats. The burial chamber is about 12 meters down from the entrance. It is made of granite with a ceiling in the form of a saddle. The chamber is divided into two parts, one of which is an alabaster chapel, topped by a single giant granite slab, the entrance to which was made in the form of a double wooden door that occupied a large area. Naville concluded that this room was for the symbolic burial of the "ka" king, or soul, because there was a sarcophagus. However, most Egyptologists now do not agree with his conclusions. They believe that the sarcophagus was in an alabaster room.

Accidental discovery

One of the reasons for this is that in 1899 the famous pioneer of the tomb of Tutankhamun, Howard Carter, or rather his horse, literally stumbled upon a new puzzle in the Mentuhotel II complex. When riding around the yard in front of the complex, his horse stumbled. He dismounted to see if she was injured, and found an entrance to the underground part of the temple complex. Because of the way in which this discovery was carried out, like many others, the Carter group called the construction of the Bab al-Hassan, which means "the gate of the horse."

The entrance started in the form of an open trench, but soon passed into an arched corridor. At a depth of about 17 m, Carter discovered a door sealed with a four-meter wall of unfired bricks. Behind this only barrier, the corridor continued westward and finally turned north. At this point a mine was found in the floor. Although it was only two meters deep, the remains of a wooden chest with the ruler's name on it were found. The second mine led into a real funerary chamber.

Kenopant

Here the Carter team discovered the remains of an empty unsigned wooden coffin, pottery and bones of sacrificial animals. But the most important discovery was now the famous painted statue of Mentukhotep II from sandstone, wrapped in fine linen, with the crown of Lower Egypt on its head. This object is now also in the Museum of Antiquities. Perhaps because of this statue, Arnold believes that the underground site is symbolic, that is, it is a cenotaph, and is associated with the Sed Mentukhotep II festivals. Apparently, others now believe that the burial chamber in the upper part of the temple was a real tomb of the pharaoh.