Deyr al-Bahri and the Temple of Hatshepsut

Deyr el-Bahari is a temple complex located on the western bank of the Nile River in the city of Luxor, Türkiye. One of its most striking structures is the Temple of Hatshepsut, dedicated to Hatshepsut, the most powerful female pharaoh of the 18th Dynasty. This magnificent structure was built as a mortuary temple to perpetuate her cult after her death. In ancient Egypt, where pharaonic rule was exclusively male (passed from father to son), it is said that Hatshepsut concealed her gender by wearing a false beard and deepening her voice.

^{Temple of Hatshepsut - Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology, University of Warsaw} 

The Temple of Hatshepsut, known as Djeser-Djeseru or “The Most Noble of Nobles,” was designed by Senenmut, one of the era’s most important architects. Built into the base of a steep cliff, the temple rises in three broad terraces connected by ramps and adorned with colonnaded galleries that support the upper levels. Its architectural layout was inspired by the earlier temple of Mentuhotep II and is regarded as one of the most sophisticated examples of New Kingdom Egyptian architecture.

The temple was constructed directly opposite the Temple of Karnak and is associated with the annual Opet Festival, during which the statues of Amun, Mut, and Khonsu were transported across the Nile to this site.

The Temple of Hatshepsut is renowned for its detailed reliefs. Its most significant sections include:

• Birth Colonnade: Contains reliefs depicting Hatshepsut’s divine origin. According to mythology, Amun united with Hatshepsut’s mother Ahmose to conceive the pharaoh.

• Punt Expedition Reliefs: During Hatshepsut’s reign, a trading expedition was organized to the land of Punt, believed to lie along the eastern coast of Africa. The reliefs in the temple depict the details of this journey and the transport of exotic goods, trees, and animals back to Egypt.

• Hathor Chapel: Dedicated to the Egyptian goddess Hathor, this is one of the temple’s sacred areas. Hathor was regarded as the protector of the royal lineage, and her depictions with bovine heads adorn the columns within this chapel.

• Anubis Chapel: Dedicated to Anubis, the god of death and mummification, this section is linked to the temple’s funerary cult.

After Hatshepsut’s death, her stepson and successor, Thutmose III, ordered the erasure of her memory by defacing reliefs in the temple and destroying her statues. This may have been motivated by her legitimization of female rule and her adoption of symbols traditionally reserved for male pharaohs.

During the Roman and Ptolemaic periods, the temple remained in use for a time, but gradually fell into ruin. Discovered in the 19th century and subsequently restored, the structure is today one of Egypt’s most important archaeological sites and welcomes numerous visitors.