Hatshepsut Temple: Egypt's Architectural Masterpiece

Luxor is blessed with several heavenly pieces of art that showcase the extraordinary elements on which this great civilization was built. Queen Hatshepsut Temple is the finest example of the brilliant architecture that once existed during the days of ancient Egypt. It is located beneath the cliffs of “Deir El-Bahari” about 17 miles northwest of Luxor on the west bank of the Nile River.

Queen Hatshepsut temple is also known as Djoser-Djeseru (Holy of Holies). It was built for the Eighteenth Dynasty Pharaoh “Queen Hatshepsut“. This temple is one of the incomparable temples of ancient Egypt that is considered to be the greatest ancient Egyptian achievement. It was built to commemorate the achievements of Queen Hatshepsut and as a funerary Temple for her, as well as a sanctuary of the god, Amon Ra.

In the 7th century AD, it was named after a Coptic monastery in the area, known as the “Northern Monastery”. Today it’s also known as the Temple of Deir El-Bahri, which means in Arabic, the “Temple of the Northern Monastery”.

Thanks to its design and decorations, the Temple of Hatshepsut at Deir El-Bahri is one of the most distinctive temples in all of Egypt. It was built of limestone, not sandstone like most of the other funerary temples of the New Kingdom period.

Visitors who can visit the temple on the 21st or 22nd of December will be in for a real treat, particularly if they get to the temple early enough to see the sunrise. Every year, these dates represent the winter solstice. During the winter solstice, sunlight can penetrate the inside of the inner chapel, falling first on the chapel’s rear wall; and then moving across slowly to illuminate a large statue of Osiris.

Who is Queen Hatshepsut?

Queen Hatshepsut was the daughter of King Thutmose I. Thutmose I got through his secondary marriage to Mutnofret a son who was called “Thutmose II“. Following the tradition, Hatshepsut married Thutmose II before she was 20 years old. Queen Hatshepsut was elevated to the great position of the wife of god Amun. It is the higher position a woman can get in Egypt that provides her with a great political position. Her husband died and his son was still a child; so she controlled the affairs of the state until she became Pharaoh of Egypt in 1478 BC. She was the fifth pharaoh of the eighteenth dynasty of ancient Egypt. She was also the second confirmed female pharaoh who ruled Egypt.

Hatshepsut was one of the most successful pharaohs of Ancient Egypt. Her reign period was the most peaceful and prosperous in the history of Egypt. She was characterized by successful trade, economy, and her many public works projects which provided jobs for laborers from the nation.

Being a Pharaoh, Hatshepsut expanded Egyptian trade and established promising building projects. The most famous one was the temple of Deir el-Bahri. And the most famous of these trading relationships was with the land of Punt; an accomplishment immortalized in the reliefs of her mortuary temple. As a result of Hatshepsut’s efforts, Egypt enjoyed a period of economic prosperity during and immediately following her rule.

In 2007, archeologists announced that they identified Hatshepsut’s mummy in tomb 60 KV in the Valley of the Kings. Queen Hatshepsut was around 50 when she died, suffering from diabetes and wearing black and red nail polish.

The Design of The Temple

Queen Hatshepsut gave the order to construct this magnificent temple in 1479 B.C. She built the temple to tell the story of her life, whose construction took about fifteen years to complete. The temple was designed by Hatshepsut’s organizer; Senenmut. He designed it carefully based on the Temple of Mentuhotep II. The temple has three levels and the three of them reflect accurately featured colonnade.

On the Ground Level, there was a garden with exotic trees from Hatshepsut’s expeditions to punt but unfortunately, it disappeared. Behind the courtyard, there were colonnades with square pillars. Some decorations include Tuthmosis III standing in front of Amun, and some scenes depicting also marshes of Lower Egypt. You can go through archways that can lead you to the second level.

The Second Level holds two reflecting pools and sphinxes, which were lining the pathway to another ramp. It contains one of the first pictorial documentation of a trade expedition. There is also a shrine for the Goddess Hathor. It is depicted with a woman’s face and a cow’s ears, holding a musical instrument. The Birth Colonnade is located on the right side of the ramp. It tells the story of Hatshepsut’s creation with Amun, as well as the punt colonnade, which is on the left side of the ramp and reveals her glorious expedition to the mysterious ‘Land of the Gods‘, which the Egyptians had not visited in centuries. There is also a Hathor Chapel that contains a hypostyle hall with twelve beautiful Hathor-headed columns. There is also Anubis Chapel, which has a hypostyle hall with twelve fluted columns and an astronomical ceiling.

The Third Level houses a portico with double rows of columns that face the front. All images of Queen Hatshepsut were destroyed and replaced with images of King Tutmosis III. There is also the sanctuary of Amun that lies behind the courtyard. It was rebuilt during the Ptolemaic period and rededicated to Imhotep.

Also: To see Hatshepsut Temple and other extraordinary monuments of Luxor’s west bank, you can check our tours from Here