Reconstruction of the bases of sandstone sphinxes from the Temple of Hatshepsut at Deir el-Bahari

2019, 28, No. 2


Publication date

31.12.2019

Publishing model

open access

License type


Field

Humanities

Discipline

archeology

Language of publication

English

Downloads

PDF 2 MB

Article

Number of views:678

Number of downloads:113

Crossref citations:0

Altmetric score:0


Abstract

The reconstruction of the iconographic program of the decoration of the sandstone bases of a group of sphinxes of Hatshepsut lining the processional avenue leading to the Queen’s Mansion of a Million Years in the temple at Deir el-Bahari is the prime focus of this article. The fragments of these statues discovered in the 1920s by the archaeological mission of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York were never published. The pieces were rediscovered in storage in 2005. A theoretical reconstruction has been undertaken, leading the author to identify an unusual iconographical pattern that reflects changes in art introduced in the times of Hatshepsut. The representations on the bases of the royal sandstone sphinxes from the queen’s temple include, among others, rekhyt birds, pat-people and “enemies of Egypt”. They take on a form that departs from that known from other sphinx sculptures.

Keywords:

Bibliography

Anthony, F.B. (2017). Foreigners in ancient Egypt: Theban tomb paintings from the early Eighteenth Dynasty (1550–1372 BC). London: Bloomsbury Academic

Bakry, H.S.K. (1968). A fragment of a sphinx found in the mortuary temple of Amenophis III. MDAIK, 23, 68

Belamarić, J. (2017). The sphinx of Split’s Peristyle. Zagreb: AGM

Bell, L. (2005). The New Kingdom “divine” temple: the example of Luxor. In B.E. Shafer (ed.), Temples of ancient Egypt (pp. 127–184). Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press

Booth, C. (2005). The role of foreigners in ancient Egypt. A study of non-stereotypical artistic representations (=BAR IS 1426). Oxford: Archaeopress

Burgos, F. and Larché, F. (2006). La chapelle Rouge: le sanctuaire de barque d’Hatshepsout I. Fac-similés et photographies des scènes. Paris: Éditions recherche sur les civilisations

Cabrol, A. (1995). Une représentation de la tombe de Khâbekhenet et les dromos de Karnak-Sud: nouvelles hypotheses. Les béliers du dromos du temple de Khonsou et l’intérieur de l’enceinte du temple de Mout. Cahiers de Karnak, 10, 33–57

Cabrol, A. (2001). Les voies processionnelles de Thèbes (=OLA 97). Leuven: Peeters

Champollion, J.-F. (1833). Lettres écrites d’Egypte et de Nubie, en 1828 et 1829. Paris: F. Didot Fréres

Collier, S.A. (1996). The crowns of Pharaoh: their development and significance in ancient Egyptian kingship (Unpubl. Ph.D. diss.). University of California, Los Angeles

Ćwiek, A. (2014). Old and Middle Kingdom tradition in the Temple of Hatshepsut at Deir el-Bahari. EtTrav, 27, 62–93

Eaton-Krauss, M. (1977). The “khat” headdress to the end of the Amarna Period. Studien zur Altägyptischen Kultur, 5, 21–39

Goebs, K. (1995). Untersuchungen zu Funktion und Symbolgehalt des nms. Zeitschrift für Ägyptische Sprache und Altertumskunde, 122(2), 154–181

Goebs, K. (2015a). Crown (Egypt). In Iconography of deities and demons (electronic pre-publication). Retrieved from https://www.academia.edu/11958136/Crown_Egypt_for_IDD_ (accessed: 28.07.2019)

Griffin, K. (2018). All the Rxyt-people adore. The role of the Rekhyt-people in Egyptian religion. London: Golden House Publications

Jéquier, G. (1912). Apendice: Les monuments égyptiens de Spalato. In E.M. Hébrard and J. Zeiller, Spalato, le palais de Dioclétien. Relevés et restaurations (pp. 209–218). Paris: Librairie générale de l’architecture et des arts décoratifs

Jomard, E.F. (ed.). (1809). Description de l’Egypte, ou, Recueil des observations et des recherches qui ont été faites en Egypte pendant l’expédition de l’armée française II.1.1. Antiquités. Texte 1. Paris: Imprimerie impériale

Jomard, E.F. (ed.). (1812). Description de l’Egypte, ou, Recueil des observations et des recherches qui ont été faites en Egypte pendant l’expédition de l’armée française II.2.2. Antiquités. Planches 2. Paris: Imprimerie impériale

Keller, C.A. (2005). The statuary of Hatshepsut. In C.H. Roehrig, R. Dreyfus, and C.A. Keller (eds), Hatshepsut, from queen to Pharaoh (pp. 158–172). New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Kitchen, K.A. (2009). Egyptian New-Kingdom topographical lists: an historical resource with “literary” histories. In P.J. Brand and L. Cooper (eds), Causing his name to live. Studies in Egyptian epigraphy and history in memory of William J. Murnane (pp. 129–136). Leiden–Boston: Brill

Lepsius, C.R. (ed.). (1852). Denkmaeler aus Aegypten und Aethiopien: nach den Zeichnungen der von seiner Majestät dem Koenige von Preussen Friedrich Wilhelm IV nach diesen Ländern gesendeten und in den Jahren 1842–1845 ausgeführten wissenschaftlichen Expedition auf Befehl seiner Majestaet II. Topographie und Architectur. Berlin: Nicolaische Buchhandlung

Mariette, A. (1875). Karnak: étude topographique et archéologique avec un appendice comprenant les principaux textes hiéroglyphiques découverts ou recueillis pendant les fouilles exécutées à Karnak. Leipzig: J.C. Hinrichs

Mariette, A. (1877). Deir-el-Bahari: documents topographiques, historiques et ethnographiques, recueillis dans ce temple pendant les fouilles exécutées par Auguste Mariette-Bey. Ouvrage publié sous les auspices de Son Altesse Ismail Khédive d’Egypte. Leipzig: Hinrichs

Naville, E. (1901). The temple of Deir el Bahari IV. The Shrine of Hathor and the Southern Hall of Offerings (=Egypt Exploration Fund Memoir 19). London: Egypt Exploration Fund

Naville, E. (1906). The temple of Deir el Bahari V. The Upper Court and Sanctuary (=Egypt Exploration Fund Memoir 27). London: Egypt Exploration Fund

Naville, E. (1908). The temple of Deir el Bahari VI. The Lower Terrace (=Egypt Exploration Fund Memoir 29). London: Egypt Exploration Fund

Posener, G. (1965). Sur l’orientation et l’ordre des points cardinaux chez les Égyptiens. Nachrichten der Akademie der Wissenschaften in Göttingen, 2, 69–78

Roth, A.M. (2015). Representing the other: non-Egyptians in Pharaonic iconography. In M.K. Hartwig (ed.), A companion to ancient Egyptian art (pp. 155–174). Chichester: Willey Blackwell

Simons, J. (1937). Handbook for the study of Egyptian topographical lists relating to Western Asia. Leiden: E.J. Brill

Smilgin, A. (2009). Sandstone sphinxes of queen Hatshepsut, Deir el-Bahari. Unpubl. manuscript

Smilgin, A. (2011). Piaskowcowe sfinksy królowej Hatszepsut w Deir el-Bahari (Sandstone sphinxes of queen Hatshepsut in Deir el-Bahari) (Unpubl. MA thesis). Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań

Smilgin, A. (2012). Sandstone sphinxes of Queen Hatshepsut from Deir el-Bahari: Preliminary remarks. PAM, 21, 255–260

Sourouzian, H. (2006). Les sphinx dans les allées processionnelles. In Sphinx: les gardiens de l’Égypte (pp. 99–111). Brussels: ING Belgique; Fonds Mercator

Tefnin, R. (1979). La statuaire d’Hatshepsout: portrait royal et politique sous la 18e dynastie (=Monumenta Aegyptiaca 4). Brussels: Fondation égyptologique reine Elisabeth

Uphill, E. (1967). The nine bows. Journal of the Ancient Near Eastern Society “Ex Oriente Lux,” 19, 393–420

Valbelle, D. (1990). Les neuf arcs: l’Egyptien et les etrangers de la prehistoire a la conquete d’Alexandre. Paris: A. Colin

Wilkinson, J.G. (1830). Topographical survey of Thebes, Tape, Thaba, of Diospolis Magna. London: James Neale

Wilkinson, J.G. (1835). Topography of Thebes, and general view of Egypt: Being a short account of the principal objects worthy of notice in the valley of the Nile. London: J. Murray

Winlock, H.E. (1932). The Museum’s excavations at Thebes. The Egyptian Expedition, 1930-1931. Bulletin of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 27, 4–37

Winlock, H.E. (n.d.a). The Metropolitan Museum of Art Theban Expedition VIII. Hatshepsut statues and sphinxes. Unpubl. manuscript in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Egyptian Expedition Archives

Winlock, H.E. (n.d.b). The Metropolitan Museum of Art Theban Expedition IX. Hatshepsut kiosk and causeway sphinxes, 1931–32 season. Unpubl. manuscript in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Egyptian Expedition Archives

Similar publications