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The Lower Chapel of Anubis on the Middle Terrace of the Temple
Djeser djeseru |
update:
14.04.2009
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| The following pictures show the floor plan of the Lower
Chapel of Anubis and some photos taken in the hypostyle of the chapel. The three
rooms of the chapel are not open to the public, only the first room can be
looked at through the grating of the door. |
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Ground plan of the lower Chapel of Anubis;
the numbers locate the following scenes:
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1. Anubis leading Hatshepsut (erased) into the chapel |
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2. Ra-Harachte, Nechbet and Hatshepsut |
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3. Hatshepsut offering to Amun |
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4. Hatshepsut (erased) offering to Anubis |
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5. Thutmosis III offering to Sokaris
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6. jmj-wt-fetish (Room 1) |
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N = Niches
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| The hypostyle hall is well preserved.
Internally the measurements revealed that the hall is about 11.1 ms wide, about
6.6 ms deep, and about 5.6 ms high. The stone ceiling resting on massive architraves, and the
twelve 16-sided columns supporting
the latter being all intact. The spacing between the columns is wider in the center to allow
a better approach to the chapel. The ceiling is painted blue strewn with yellow stars. |
| The floor consists mostly of solid rock. The floor is about 75 cms below
that of the 2nd portico and only a few cms higher than the middle platform. |
| The scene above shows the queen (erased)
introduced into the chapel by Anubis (pos. 1 in the floor plan). Most of the
accompanying text has been destroyed. However, Naville still red: "The going in
and out, the introduction of the king into the sacred shrine of Anubis, who is
on his mountain, who resides in Djeseru." |
| The photo above shows the scene of the the southern niche,
where Hatshepsut is shown libating before Osiris-Chontamenti (center of the southern wall,
between pos. 1 and 2). The text above Osiris reads: "Wsjr-#ntj-jmntj
nTr aA nb pt = Osiris-Chontamenti, Great God, Lord
of Heaven." |
| The scene shows the queen (erased) between Nekhbet
and Ra-Horakhti (pos. 2). |
| Amun seated in front of a table with offerings,
the figure of Hatshepsut, depicted left of the table, had been
erased (pos. 3) |
| The next photo taken in the portico shows Anubis enthroned in front of a
table with offerings. The figure of Hatshepsut who was depicted right
of the pile of offerings had been erased (pos. 4) |
| The photo above taken from the western part of the
north-wall of the portico shows the jmj-wt-fetish inside a shrine. The figure of
Hatshepsut sanding in front the fetish had been erased (left of pos. 5). |
| Thutmosis III offering wine to Sokarj, The Great
God, Lord of Heaven,
(pos. 5, above the northern niche) |
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| The rear wall of the southern niche showed
Hatshepsut (erased) before Amun. On the side walls Mut and Buto were
depicted. |
| The rear wall of the northern niche showed Hatshepsut
(erased) before Anubis. On the side walls Nekhbet and Buto were depicted.
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| On the eastern side of the north-wall the last scene of the hypostyle
shows again Anubis leading the queen (erased) into the sanctuary.
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| A few steps are leading to the entrance of the three chambers
(see photo below).
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| The following two horizontal lines right (see photo below) and left of the
doorway contain - covered by a "pt"-sign - the name of the doorway "The door
[named] Hatshepsut (changed to Thutmosis
II), with lasting DfAw-food in the house of Anubis [= sbA
aA-xpr-n-Ra mnt
DfAw
m pr Inpw]" (Grallert, 2001).
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The rooms of the chapel shows a typical arrangement. The rooms were not
built in a row but every successive room was positioned in a right angle
to the preceding room. This blocked the view into the depth of the chapel
and emphasized the secret nature of the ceremonies performed there.
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The scenes in the first room (see photo above from Werbrouck, 1949) show the "Ritual of the
Ancestors". In the next room (see photo below) parts of the
"Daily Ritual" were shown. Like in the first room Anubis was
depicted here but also the protecting gods of the Theban
necropolis, Imentet and Hathor, as well as the protecting gods of
the Memphis necropolis, Osiris, Ptah, and Sokar.
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Anubis was an important god participating in the transformation of the
deceased on his way to the afterworld. Anubis was responsible not only
for the deceased to overcome the trauma of death but also for the
deceased king to become a powerful god. Only then the deceased king
could have taken over his part in the cosmic cycle of the daily journey
of the sun god.
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Apart from Anubis the scenes depict
other deities (e.g. Osiris and Sokar) and symbols (jmj-wt-fetishes) which played an
important role in overcoming the trauma of death.
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The photo shows the jmj-wt-fetish
depicted in the 1st Chamber. |
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Photo by Arnold "Die Tempel Ägyptens", 1996
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| The scenes of the last room (see photo above from Werbrouck, 1949) show twice Hatshepsut offering to Anubis.
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