Hatshepsut’s Temple, Worker’s Village

Hatshepsut’s Temple, Worker’s Village

On the other side of the Mountain that shields the Valley of the Kings is the Temple of Hatshepsut. Those of you who know the Met’s Egyptian collection are already familiar with the story of the Female Pharaoh who ruled as King, not Queen, for eighteen years. The Met’s collection of statuary is much better than the statues remaining on site but the Temple itself (as magnificently restored by Polish archaeologists) is both impressive and beautiful. The AIA group had a private visit to the inner part of the temple from which the public is excluded. (More on that in my supplemental notes to be published next week).

We also saw the tomb of Senenmut, the Temple’s chief architect which is the only “commoner” tomb in the area. Very deep and quite “exciting”  (meaning treacherous) to enter.

We visited the workers’ village which housed the 500 artisans who worked on the temple and the tombs of two additional commoners (not near the Temple or royal burials) with beautiful frescoes but no carvings.

I hear the Muzzein calling for sunset prayers and  I am going to stop right now.

The group leaves tomorrow and  I will be staying until Sunday. You have probably read about the general strike scheduled for tomorrow, but I hope and expect to be able to depart on schedule. 

I almost forgot, I had a lovely afternoon sail on the Nile in  a traditional Egyptian sailboat this afternoon. Look for an interesting photo, Miriam.