The XIth dynasty temple at Deir el-Bahari .. - NYU | Digital Library ...

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THE XlTH DYNASTY TEMPLE AT DEIR EL-BAHARI.
placed on the liitlicr side of the luuiiutiiin, ou
the borders of the cultivation in the valley
itself, and merely pointing vaguely iu the
general direction of the tombs to which tliey
belonsed. The two first kino-s of the XYIIIth
Dynasty had been buried in the Dra' Abu
'l-Nefjga, on the hither side of the moun-
tain, with their toml)-cliapels adjoining their
tombs. The kings of the Xllth Dynasty would
have been buried in the same way, had they
been interred at Thebes. They, however, pre-
ferred the neighbourhood of their favourite
'' Lake-Province " of the Favyum. Some of the
kings of the Xlth Dynasty were probably buried
at Deir el-Bahari, and we cannot doubt that
their tombs were close to their funerary chapels.
For this reason the tomb of Xeb-hepet-Ra I.
is probably near his temple, while the Bab
ti-HoKiln may have been (if not the actual
tomb) the ^vf -sanctuary of his successor, who
added the shrines to the plan of the original
builder, and so to some extent shares with him
the ownership of the temple.
The tomb of Neb-hepet-Ka I. is said
to have been intact at the time of the
royal inquest into the tomb-robberies at
Thebes in the reign of Rameses TX., of
the XXth Dynasty. //^"^kf /\ ~vwva
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' The
Pyramid -Tomb of King Neb-hepet-Ra (life,
wealth, health!). Son of the Sun, Mentuhetep
(life, wealth, health!), which is in Tjesret
(Zesret) ; it Avas intact." Ze)ier-zesrn-Ayion
(" Holy of Holies of Amon ") is the ancient
name of the Great Temple of Queen Hatshepsu
at Deir el-Bahari ; and the shortened form
Zesret was from the time of Hatshepsu onwards
used for Deir el-Bahari generally. The tonib
then was at Deir el-Bahari, as Ave have assumed
from what we know of the custom of the period
l)efore the XMlIth Dynasty.
The name of the tomb is given us by the stela
of a certain Tetu, priest of its chapel, who Avas
buried at Abydos.' The name Avas(o
'^» jj i /\
, Al-li-dsnt-Nfb-hepet-Iid, "Glorious
are the Seats of King Xeb-hepet-Rn," deter-
mined by a pyramid. The chapel, Avhich is the
temple excavated by us, Avas known by the
same name in its shortened form, Ahli-dsiit, or
Akli-dset simply. In inscriptions found on the
spot during these excavations the name occurs
determined by the sign of a building, [ir^i,
Avhich is used specifically ibr a temple, only ;
thus a certain Aakhej)erka " Avas priest of the
house (i.e. temple) Akh-asct " under the XVIlIth
Dynasty. But in the inscriptions of the
XVIIIth Dynasty temple of Hatshepsu the
name AlcJi-dsei seems to signify not a single
building but the place Deir el-Bahari gene-
rally. On a small stela of the XA'HIth
Dynasty found by us Ave find Alrh-dset
synonymous Avith Zesret : Hathor is called " lady
of Zesret, she Avho is in Akh-aset," .
'^^^ '^^ 1
11
^ r (^^- ^^^'- 6)- On another stela
(PI. xxvi. b) of the same date is mentioned a
"priest of Amen in Akh-aset in the House of
Xeb-hepet-Rfi," / J AAAAAA 1 -vtWAA ¥J^
m^37n. Tiiis (unless it is an example of
apposition, Akh-dset being synonymous Avith
"the House of Xeb-hepet-Ra ") makes the temple
Avithin Akh-aset, not j;ikh-aset itself. But that
the Avoi'd Alih-dsut (Avritten later Akk-dset)
originally designated not a place but a building
Avould seem to be shown by its determinatives
and A : it is on the stelae not determined
by [y^, though it is sometimes determined by ®
alone. We should ordinarily suppose that the
original Akh-dsnt Avas then a Ijuildino; at Deir
el-Bahari, the name of Avliich was afterwards,
Avhen the stelae mentioned above Avere inscribed,
' Makiette, Cut. Ahijdu>i, No. 605.
.