there is a striking sim- 

 ilarity. Both were in- 

 cluded within one en- 

 closure, both had porti- 

 coes of marvelous beauty 

 and proportion, both 

 were dedicated to 

 Hathor. 



THK BEAUTlF'UIv Te:MPLI': 

 OF HATSHEPSUT 



The larger temple, that 

 of Queen Hatshepsut, is 

 the product of an age 

 great in achievement and 

 noted for its beautiful 

 creations. Withers fit- 

 tingly says of this tem- 

 ple: "Except for the 

 sculptures on its walls 

 the temple bears no re- 

 semblanceto other sacred 

 buildings. Lying at the 

 foot of hills that rise 

 sheer upward for 400 

 feet, and constructed in 

 three terraces, where the 

 hills slope gradually to 

 the plain, the slender 

 colonnades appear to 

 support the whole weight 

 of the cliffs overhead. 

 Its own columns are 

 whitish, like mellowed 

 ivory. The whole ma- 

 terial of the temple is 

 limestone, yellowed with 

 age where the sun falls 

 on it, still dazzling white 

 in places of shade, and 

 in either instance pro- 

 viding a surface on which 

 the rich pigments of 

 Egyptian art, faded or 

 vivid, are displayed in 

 astonishing beauty." 



Hatshepsut's temple is 

 really a tomb-chapel in 

 memory of the royal per- 

 sonages buried in the ad- 

 joining sepulchers: 

 Thothmes (Tahutmes) 

 I ; his daughter, the fa- 

 mous Hatshepsut ; her 

 brother and consort, 

 Thothmes II, and her 

 successor, Thothmes III. 

 Thothmes I and Thoth- 

 mes II really built by 

 themselves, but Hatshep- 

 sut appropriated the en- 



Photo from ISgypt ^Exploration Fund 

 HATHOR SHRINF, FOUND AT DFIR-Klv-BAHARI 



"A perfect likeness of the living animal, reddish-brown in 

 color, with spots shaped like a four-leaved clover. Traces yet 

 remain of the gold that once covered head, neck, and horns. 

 Between the curving horns is the lunar disk, surmounted by two 

 plumes" (see page 1040). 



Photo from iCgypt l^xploration i'und 



HATHOR, THF cow GODDFSS 



"Beneath her head stands the dead king, whom she protects. 

 The living king, whom she nourishes, kneels beneath her form. 

 She is the nourishing mother of the young ruler as she is of 

 the divine Horus" (see page 1041). 



1027 



