“semitisches pantheon”. eine “männliche tyche” - MOSAIKjournal.com

286| ALEXANDRA MIRONOVA
so-called Chamber of Ancestors 25) and the sun chapels dedicated to
the gods Khepri and Re-Horakhty. 26 Such temple layout is characteristic
for the architecture of the New Kingdom mortuary temples;
27 and this gives a reason to draw a parallel between the
Akhmenu- and Deir el-Bahari-temples, both of which belong to the
type of the temples called “Millions of Years”. 28 Thus, it may be
suggested that the Opet Festival program remained generally unchanged
since the time of Hatshepsut and that it was also associated
with the afterworld during the reign of Thutmose III. To substantiate
this idea one should examine the decoration of the Festival
Hall.
It is noticable, that in the eastern part of the Hall, on each side
of its west-east axis, there are two columns decorated with the images
of the pharaoh making offerings to the god Amun-Re during
the moon festivals, among which the festivals of 6 th and 7 th lunar
days, the Festival of the First Crescent and the Festival of Full
Moon are mentioned. 29 The decoration of these “lunar” columns
face the center aisle of the Festival Hall, i. e. it is oriented along the
west-east axis. Possibly, this circumstance indicates the synchronicity
of the nocturnal movement of the moon and sun. Besides, the
columns are located near the entrance to the hall leading to the
east, to the sanctuary of Amun-Re. Of particular interest is the fact
that the name of the second hall sounds like “Men-kheper-Re (i. e.
Thutmose III) dispels the evil” (Mn-xpr-Ra xsr Dwt). 30 This phrase
echoes the name of the 80 th Chapter of the Book of the Dead,
“Making the transformation into the god who lightened the darkness”
(irt xprw m nTr rdit sSp kkw). In this chapter one should pay
attention to the following passage: „I filled the eye (of Re), when it
began to wane at the coming of the festival of the fifteenth day (or
the sixth day, according to another version of the Book of the
25 PORTER – MOSS (1972) 111–112, plan XIII (2).
26 PORTER – MOSS (1972) 122, rooms XXXII–XXXVIII;
BARGUET (1962) 199–201.
27 STADELMANN (1986) 708; LASKOWSKI (2006) 195.
28 For more information about the temples of this type, see
HAENY (1997).
29 PÉCOIL (2000) pl. 49
30 BARGUET (1962) 191.