Sun Altar

The Solar Complex on the 3. Terrace of the Temple Djeser djeseru

update: 03.01.2012

The solar cult complex consist of a roofed vestibule and an open courtyard with the sun-altar. The predominating element of the sun-court is the great open-air altar for Ra-Horakhty erected in its center and equipped with stairs leading on its western side up to the platform. The walls to the northern chapel of Amun and to the courtyard of the 3. terrace both show a niche. The remains of a 3rd niche have been discovered during the excavation and restoration work. Obviously, the 3rd niche had been dismantled when Hatshepsut added the Upper Chapel of Anubis (Szafrañskj, 2001).

Above the Sun Altar seen from the vestibule (position 11 in the floor plan above which itself is not accessible for tourists). On the right side the upper Chapel of Anubis, opposite on the western wall and and on the left wall the two niches.

View of the Sun Altar from the wall separating the sun-court from the main part of the 3rd terrace. On the right upper corner the remaining walls and columns of the vestibule (photo taken from: Szafranski, 2001, p. 264)..

Wyzocki (MDAIK 43, 1987, and MDAIK 48, 1992) was first one who tried to provide a history of its building on the basis of the investigations of the Polish mission. After his interpretation the Solar Complex had been erected in 2 phases with several planning stages:

- according to Wyzocki the 1st phase had been carried out only in parts. According to the plans the Northern Chapel of Amun was the only enclosed room on the northern side of the festival court at that time. A colonnade with an ambulatory on the planned southern, eastern, and northern walls of the Solar Complex were not installed.

- in the 1st stage of the 2nd phase a yard or a hall with columns was planned east the northern chapel of Amun, with one entrance each at the Northern Chapel of Amun and at the "Night-Sun Chapel". If this plan had been implemented 12 columns before would have erected in front the Upper Chapel of Anubis - at this time probably an impressing element of the festival court.

- in the 2nd stage of the 2nd phase the idea of a columned hall was rejected in favor of an open court, at the same time " Night-Sun Chapel" established.

The investigations of the Polish team revealed that the Sun altar had been enlarged whereby the old altar had been just built over.

However, re-examination of the Polish archaeologists showed that the ideas of Wysocki concerning the building history must be rejected (Karkowski, 2003).

The results of the re-examination showed that from the beginning the rooms on the northern part of the festival court contained a Solar Complex with an open altar court and a roofed "Night-Sun Chapel".

The original plan has been slightly modified. A more important modification was the addition of the "Upper Chapel of Anubis", another one the repeated moving of the "Night-Sun Chapel" from its original position on the east to the west side of the altar court and then back to the east. As a rule, these modifications required the demolition of some walls.

The niche in the northern wall of the open altar court was dismantled when the "Upper Chapel of Anubis" was added (Szafrañskj, 2001).

West-East cross section of the final scheme of the Solar Complex (from: Karkowski, 2003, plate 14C). The figure shows the "Night-Sun Chapel" to the east (right) side of the altar court, the central altar which was enlarged (built over), behind the altar the northern wall with the entrance into the "Upper Chapel of Anubis", and the western (left) wall with the niche.
The figure shows that the bottom of the niches were on the same level as the upper surface of the altar.

Based on the observation that the decoration of the "Upper Chapel of Anubis" includes representations of Thutmosis I the addition of the chapel is dated into the late period of Hatshepsut's reign.

The investigations of the Polish team showed that figures of Thutmosis I replaced three times figures of Neferu-Ra already during the reign of Hatshepsut. This is associated with the observation that Neferu-Ra disappeared from the records after year 11 of Hatshepsut.

On the other hand, the increased appearance of Thutmosis I among the temple's decoration may also be associated with the transportation of his mummy to KV20 (Karkowski, loc. cit., S. 48) - if one agrees that his original tomb was KV38 and not KV20.

The investigations showed that merely the "Upper Chapel of Anubis" and the "Night-Sun Chapel" had been decorated completely.

The walls of the solar court had been roughly smoothed by chisel strokes but not polished thereafter. The walls had not been decorated.

Apart from the destruction of representations and names of Hatshepsut under Thutmosis III, later the names and figures of Amun(-Ra) and the Gods of the crew of the solar barque (Saryt, Thoth, Wepwawet, Lady of the Barque, „Bull of the truth Ka-Ma'at" and Sia) were attacked - with exception of Ra-Horakhty and Atum - during the Amarna period.
The destroyed figures and names of gods were restored - most probably under Horemheb. The well preserved figure of Amun-Ra on the western jamb of the entrance may show the facial features of Horemheb.

Among the original decoration only the kings Hatshepsut and Thutmosis III had been depicted (Karkowski, loc. cit. p. 59), during the destruction of figures of the queen here and again she had been replaced by figures of Thutmosis II.

The original plan contained most likely 6 niches:
- one each in the southern, western, and northern wall of the altar court; the niche of the northern wall was dismantled when the "Upper Chapel of Anubis" was erected;
- in addition, there were hints that two niches right and left of the door to the vestibule had been planned;
- another niche was planned in the northern wall of the vestibule.

The decoration of the niches of the Solar Complex follows the same scheme that was implemented in the small niches of the west wall of festival court.

The sidewalls (see next figure) showed always the queen on her throne with an table full of offerings in front of her. Opposite to her the Iunmutef-priest is shown performing the rites.

Part of the decoration of the left (eastern) sidewall of the southern niche of the altar court (taken from: Karkowski, J., DeB IV The-Temple-of-Hatshepsut-The-Solar-Complex, Warsaw 2003; plate 45 bis). On the left the Iunmutef is shown performing rites (hich has been destroyed during the Amarna period), in the middle the table with offerings and above the offering list, on the right the destroyed figure of Hatshepsut.

Details of the decoration of the rear wall of the southern niche (from: Karkowski, J., DeB IV The-Temple-of-Hatshepsut-The-Solar-Complex, Warsaw 2003; plate 45 bis). The scene showed Hatshepsut (destroyed) between Amun-Ra and Ra-Horakhty.

The inner jamb on the east side shows a much faded unfinished ex-voto of Senenmut which corresponds closely to other figures of him left behind doors in the temple. The sketch shows a 30 x 25 cm large figure of a kneeling Senenmut facing niche outwards, towards the altar.

The east wall of the niche shows a figure of Hatshepsut (78x105 cm, 54 cm above the pavement of the niche) sitting in front of a table with offerings. Opposite to queen a Iunmutef-priest is depicted performing the rites. The figure of the queen, her throne, the pedestal of the throne, and the accompanying inscriptions had been largely destroyed. The Iunmutef-priest was also destroyed but restored already in antiquity.

The southern (rear) wall showed (the destroyed figure of) Hatshepsut (79.5x105 cm, 56.5 above the pavement of the niche), presented to Amun-Ra by Re-Horakhty who also protected her.

The western wall shows a nearly identical scene (77.5x107 cm, 53.5 cm above the pavement of the niche) like the eastern wall, again the scene has been partly destroyed.

The western niche shows on its southern wall again an enthroned Hatshepsut (75x114.5 cm) in front of a table with offerings. Oppsite to her the Iunmutef-priest is depicted performing the rites. The figure of the queen is completely destroyed, her throne has survived. The figure of the Iunmutef-priest was destroyed and restored in antiquity.

The west (rear) wall showed (a destroyed figure of) Hatshepsut (77.5x55 cm) who was presented to Amun-Ra by Ra-Horakhty who is also protecting her. The scene mirrors the scene on the rear wall of the southern niche.

The scene (78x110 cm) on the northern wall shows with minor differences to comparable scenes again an enthroned Hatshepsut in front of an table full of offerings. Opposite to the queen the Iunmutef-priest is depicted performing the rites. The figure of the Iunmutef-priest has been damaged during the Amarna period.

During the excavations a few blocks from the northern niche which had been dismantled before the erection of the "Upper Chapel of Anubis" were recovered. The preserved parts of the decoration show that the niche had been decoration like the other niches. Remains of the side walls showed an Iunmutef-priests before a table with offerings, remains of the rear wall showed a king embraced by a god.

Die Rekonstruktion der "Nachtkapelle der Sonne" ergab, dass die Kapelle überdacht und vom Sonnenhof durch eine Wand getrennt war. In diese Wand waren möglicherweise auf beiden Seiten des Tors zum Sonnenhof zwei weitere Nischen eingelassen worden, die wie die anderen im Hof nur vom Hof aus erreichbar waren. Mindestens drei Säulen trugen das Dach.

Die östliche Wand war mit mindestens 2 Szenen dekoriert, in denen Hatschepsut als Priesterin des Sonnengottes fungierte. Die Dekoration bezieht sich auf die Nachtfahrt der Sonne, von der 1. Stunde der Nacht nach Sonnenuntergang im Westen bis hin zur Morgendämmerung und Sonnenaufgang im Osten.

Auf der nördlichen Wand findet sich die Königin vor Amun, erhalten sind jedoch nur noch beider Beine (siehe folgendes Foto).

View of the vestibule from the edge of the rock. On the northern wall the queen stands before Amun (the legs are still preserved). The vestibule is separated from the sun-altar by a slanting wall.

In der östlichen Seite der Nordwand findet sich eine Nische (Öffnung 152x82 cm), ca. 138 cm über dem Pflaster der Kapelle.

Die Laibungen der Nische tragen die Königstitulatur, die Inschrift wurde zerstört und teilweise restauriert, wobei die Namen der Hatschepsut entfielen.

In der inneren Türlaibung der westlichen Seite findet sich eine weitgehend ausgehackte Darstellung des anbetenden Senenmut, wie man sie auch von anderen Bereichen des Tempels kennt. Die 111 x 33 cm große Figur des knienden Senenmut blickt nach außen, in die Kapelle. Die Begleitinschrift ist komplett unleserlich.

Die innere Türlaibung der östlichen Seite zeigt eine spiegelbildliche, ebenfalls zerstörte Darstellung (110x26 cm) des Senenmut, der auch hier aus der Nische heraus in die Kapelle schaut.

Die Dekoration folgt dem Schema der Dekoration der Nischen des Sonnenhofes, d.h. auf den Seitenwänden wurde jeweils eine inthronisierte Hatschepsut vor einem Tisch mit Opfergaben dargestellt, ihr gegenüber vollzieht ein Iunmutef-Priester die Kulthandlungen.

Die Nordwand (Rückwand) zeigte Hatschepsut (vollständig zerstört), die von Amun umarmt wurde. In der Zeit nach Amarna wurde die Figur Amuns restauriert, wobei wie Darstellung verändert wurde, da man die Figur der Hatschepsut nicht restauriert hat.