In front of us, as we pass the VI and the last pylon
of the main temple, a small and ruined structure of Tuthmosis III, with a
granite gateway . On either side of the gateway is the well-known list of the
conquests of Tuthmosis, which takes the usual form of a series of ovals with
emergent figures, each oval bearing the name of a conquered city or locality .
The list on the left-hand side is of particular interest, as it records, the
tribes of the Upper Retenu ( Syria ) which His Majesty took in the wretched
town of Megiddo .
Before us, as we pass through the granite gateway, is
the Hall of Records of Tuthmosis III, now chiefly conspicuous for the two
beautiful granite pillars which once supported its roof . That on the left hand
has a papyrus design on it in relief, and that on the right a similar relief of
a Lotus, thus symbolizing respectively Lower and Upper Egypt ( another instance
of the studious emphasizing, on every possible occasion, of the fact that Egypt
was formed by the union of the Two Lands ) . On the left hand there is also a
remarkably fine quartzite colossal head of the god Amûn, and a quartzite statue
of the goddess Amûnet . These were the work of Tutankhamûn, but were later
usurped by Haremhab .
On either side of the Hall of Records are the remains
of a colonnaded court of Tuthmosis III, with sixteen-sided clustered columns of
papyrus-bud form . On its south side this court has a series of shrines for the
worship of the deified Amenophis I, which continues eastwards along the south
side of the Sanctuary .
Passing out the Hall of Records, we are faced by the
complex of buildings of Tuthmosis III into the middle of which the granite
shrine of Philip Arrhidaeus was intruded to take the place of the more ancient
sanctuary ( 323-305 B.C. ) . The carvings in the interior of the shrine are of
no particular importance, but those on the right-hand ( south ) outside wall
deserve attention . Here Philip is crowned and presented to the gods ( top row
) . In the middle and third rows the festal barques of Amûn are seen being
carried in procession by the priests, or set down upon their stands at the
" stations " of the god . The actual shrine of Amûn, in the centre of
the barque, is veiled with a white cloth .
The building of Tuthmosis III which surrounds the
shrine of Philip is sometimes called the Second Hall of Records, as it contains
one of the most important historical inscriptions of Egypt, the annals ( a
chronological record of the events of successive years ) of the Asiatic
campaigns of the great conqueror . These begin at the north-east corner of the
wall on the north side facing the granite shrine, and run along this north wall
westwards .
A doorway of black granite of Tuthmosis III opens to
the north into a series of ruined chambers which show the cartouche of
Hatshepsut, obliterated and replaced by those of Tuthmosis II or Tuthmosis III
.
The
corresponding chambers on the south side have an alabaster dyad of Amenophis
II, and an alabaster dyad of Tuthmosis III . The reliefs of Hatshepsut, in the
chamber on the north side, entered by the black granite doorway, are well worth
seeing, as they have kept their colour well .
Part ( 15 ) .. The Great Temple Of Amen-Rê .. Coming SoOoOon .....
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