Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut

The mortuary temple of Hatshepsut rises in three broad terraces against the sheer limestone cliffs of Deir el-Bahari on the west bank at Luxor, and the setting is half of its beauty. Long horizontal colonnades and ramps stretch across the desert floor, while the amber cliff behind rises straight up; the building seems to grow out of the mountain rather than stand in front of it. The Egyptians called it Djeser-Djeseru, the "Holy of Holies", and it remains one of the most elegant buildings of the ancient world.

It was built in the Eighteenth Dynasty, in the fifteenth century BC, between Hatshepsut's seventh and twentieth years of rule — a woman who reigned as pharaoh with the full titles of a king. Who designed it is not certain: her steward Senenmut, the Overseer of Works, and the high priest Hapuseneb are the usual candidates. The architect took a clear cue from the older temple of Mentuhotep II right next door, built some six centuries earlier, but turned its terraced idea into something lighter and grander. An avenue of more than a hundred sandstone sphinxes once led up to it; on the top terrace, columns were fronted by colossal Osiride statues of the queen, each about 5.2 metres high.

The reliefs are the reason to slow down. In the Punt Colonnade of the middle terrace, a carved sequence records the expedition Hatshepsut sent to the land of Punt: ships being loaded, myrrh trees for temple incense, the stilted houses of Punt and the famously stout Queen Ati. The northern colonnade tells the story of her divine birth, presenting her as the daughter of the god Amun. At the corners of the same terrace stand shrines to Hathor, with columns crowned by the goddess's face, and to Anubis, where colour survives remarkably well. Look closely and you will also see gaps: some two decades after her death, Thutmose III set about erasing her image and name, and many of her figures were chiselled away.

Since 1961 the Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology has worked at the site, reassembling and consolidating the temple from thousands of fragments; much of what you see standing today is the result of that patient reconstruction.

Getting there

The temple is on the west bank of the Nile opposite Luxor, about 3 km from the village of At-Tarif. Luxor International Airport (LXR) is about 12 km away in a straight line, on the east bank. Visitors usually cross the river from Luxor by road bridge or ferry and continue by taxi.