Overview
Deir el-Bahari is an area on the west bank of the Nile, opposite the city of Luxor, Egypt, which is home to some Egyptian burial complexes.The most important burial temples existing in the Deir el-Bahari plain, also known as the million-year-old temples, are those of Montuhotep II (XI dynasty), of Hatshepsut and Thutmosi III (XVIII dynasty); not far away, but nevertheless included in the area of ​​the Theban Necropolis and to name only the most important, are also the Mortuary Temple of Seti I, that of Ramses III in Medinet Habu, and the Ramesseum of pharaoh Ramses II (X dynasty).
In the esplanade of Deir el-Bahari there are also some Tombs of the Nobles including the TT320 (also known as DB320, "Deir Bahari 320", or as "cachette" of Deir el-Bahari) which, upon discovery, at the at the end of the 19th century, it contained 45 mummies of kings and court officials collected here to protect them from the raids of the tomb violators of the Valley of the Kings. Still in the context of the Tombs of the Nobles which here are of interest, the TT353 of Senenmut royal official and architect responsible for the construction of the temple of Hatshepsut
Mortuary Temple of Mentuhotep II
It is the oldest temple in the area and dates back to the 11th dynasty. It consists, in fact, of several terraces that lean against the natural walls. In the large square that faced the temple, and in which 55 tamarisks and 4 sycamores were planted on each side of the ramp leading to the highest floor, interspersed with statues of the king, is "Bab el-Hosan", or the "door of the horse "so called because Howard Carter's horse accidentally tripped over it, allowing the discovery of the long underground corridor leading to the royal cenotaph excavated under the temple. An ascending ramp leads to a second terrace on which stood a colonnaded portico that covered a long wall that must have been completely covered with inscriptions. There have been various reconstructive hypotheses of the funerary complex; the summit monument has often been interpreted as a pyramid or a mound, but today we tend to believe that it was, rather, a mastaba.
A well, and the subsequent tunnel, descend for 150 m to end in the funeral chamber which is 45 meters below the courtyard. The funeral chamber houses a sarcophagus which originally contained the wooden chest of Montuhotep II.
Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut
dating back to the 18th dynasty, it was called "djeser djeseru", or "sublime of the sublime". Architecturally, it is completely linked to the adjacent Temple of Montuhotep II in a sort of political manifesto since Hatshesput wanted to link up with what is defined as the Egyptian Renaissance constituted by the XI dynasty, the last before the riots and political uncertainty from which, moreover, the Second Intermediate Period and the advent of the Hyksos dynasties, before the reunification started with the XVII Theban dynasty and completed with the XVIII to which Hatshepsut belonged.
It was built by demolishing the previous funerary temple of Amenofi I and identical to the structure of the temple of Montuhotep is the development on several terraces; the choice of moving the temple forward until it meets the rock by penetrating inside it is also identical. Terraces and arcades follow each other for a depth of about 200 m between the entrance and the rear wall of the last terrace; the width of the complex, measured on the second terrace, is about 100 m. In the lower part the avenue opened, flanked by colossal sphinxes with the face of Hatshepsut, which from the Temple downstream, on the river, led to the entrance and continued up the access ramp to the second terrace, or intermediate terrace. Sycamores, tamarinds, palms, perhaps apricots and vine branches flanked the avenue and the entrance, while papyrus plants and incense shrubs from the land of Punt grew in two artificial lakes.
Mortuary Temple of Thutmose III
Also dating back to the 18th dynasty and to Pharaoh Thutmose III, it is the smallest of the three. It occupies a small space between the two temples of Montuhotp II and Hatshepsut, today it is very deteriorated and difficult to identify; it was built close to the escarpment integrating itself between the two largest temples. Recently discovered by a Polish team, it has undergone substantial anastylosis operations.
Tombs of the necropolis
There are, in the area of ​​Deir el-Bahari, 12 tombs belonging to the largest Theban Necropolis and, in particular, in the broader concept of Tombs of the Nobles spread over several distinct necropolis. The burials of Deir el-Bahari date back to periods in any case connected to the existing burial temples: XI, XVIII and XX dynasty, as well as in one case to the XXVI:
TT308 Kemsit Prophetess of Hathor; only ornament of the king
TT310 unknown Chancellor of the King of Lower Egypt
TT311 Kheti Treasurer of the king of Lower Egypt
TT312 Nespakhashuty Governor of the city and Vizier
TT313 also known as MMA513 Henenu Great Administrator
TT314 Horhotep Bearer of the seal of the king of Lower Egypt
TT315 Ipi Governor of the city, Vizier and judge
TT316 Neferhotep Chief of the archers
TT319 Nofru (Queen bride of Montuhotep II)
TT320 also known as DB320 cache of Deir el-Bahari (various)
TT351 Abau Scribe of the cavalry
TT353 Senenmut Senior Administrator
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