The entrance and the first courtyard of Hatshepsut's Temple .. ( Part 3 )

The original approach to the temple was by an avenue of sphinxes leading up from the plain . This led up to the first portal, now almost completely destroyed .

In front of it two Persea trees .

The Persea was sacred in Egyptian religion, as is seen in the famous story of Anpu and Bata, ( or as it is called " The Tale of the two Brothers ", the story was written in Hieratic text on the Papyrus D'Orbiney, which is currently preserved in the British Museum ) stood within a couple of walled enclosures .

Passing through this gate, one entered a broad open court, which apparently, from surviving traces, had palm-trees and papyrus-beds as its adornment .

The west end of the court was occupied by a colonnade, whose back wall formed the retaining wall for the first terrace . The colonnade had a row of square pillars in front, and a second row of sixteen-sided pillars behind . A ramp of gentle gradient leads up between the two sections of the colonnade to the terrace above .

The colonnade in the northern ( right-hand ) section is badly wrecked, and but little remains of the reliefs which once adorned its back wall .

In the north corner there are traces of a scene in which water-fowl are being caught in clap-nets .

The southern section has preserved more .

The visitor should especially notice the scene at the southern corner of the colonnade, in which the transportation of two great obelisks by water is depicted . The obelisks are placed butt along the deck of a great barge, which is being towed by boats . Below this there is a procession of soldiers carrying standards and branches of trees, for the feast of the dedication of the obelisks ; they are met by a company of archers headed by a trumpeter who is blowing lustily .

Near the middle of the line is a fine figure of Tuthmosis III dancing before Mîn . There are also remains of several figures of Hatshepsut before Amûn, and a scene of the queen as a human-headed sphinx triumphing over her enemies, which must at one time have been a fine piece of work ; but all are hacked out, either by Tuthmosis III, in the case of Hatshepsut, or by Akhenaten in the case of Amûn .

Part ( 4 ) .. Coming SoOoOon .....

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