Temple in the Tomb : Progress of work on the reconstruction
of the temple of Tuthmosis I – Jadwiga Iwaszczuk
Fragments of the temple were found in MMA 826 and by
comparing the cleaned fragments with a photo in the 1981 publication by Abu el-Ayun Barakat they knew what they had found. One
fragment was left in situ as it could not be moved. An architrave gave the name
of the temple. He had published a small plan but they found pillars not
mentioned on the plan. The most important elements were sandstaone and they
used limestone on the door jambs. There appear to be lots of niches similar to
Harshepsut. One block had 2 faces indicating reuse
The offering chapel had a design similar to that of
Hatshepsut of a unification of the two lands with rekhyets. It was painted to
look like granite.
The battle scene had chariots with 4 spoke wheels and is the
first battle scene representation.
·
Unknown who started the temple
·
Not finished
·
Not mentioned by Inneni but on Djeuhty
·
Lots of architectural changes
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No Amarna erasure
·
First festival calendar
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Patched false doors
·
Early use of sandstone
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Dark backgrouns
·
Polychrome sunk relief
There is an absolutely brilliant news article that is much
better than my notes
Polish Egyptologist identified fragments of a lost Egyptian temple... in a
storage
The base of
the statue, which allowed to identify the remains the building discovered by
Dr. Abu el-Ayun Barakat. Photo by J. Iwaszczuk
Thousands of stone blocks lying for years in a storage near
Luxor turned out to be the remains of the temple of Thutmose I, long sought
after by archaeologists. Fragments of the temple were identified by a Polish
Egyptologist, Jadwiga Iwaszczuk.
The Temple of Thutmose I (1504-1492 BC), in times of splendour, was
comparable to the temples built by Hatshepsut in Deir el-Bahari or by Ramesses
II - the Ramesseum.
Jadwiga Iwaszczuk, Egyptologist from the Institute of Mediterranean and
Oriental Cultures of the Polish Academy of Sciences, made an accidental
discovery. Beautifully decorated fragments of blocks from which the temple was
built, were located in the storage of the Egyptian Supreme Council of
Antiquities (now Egyptian Ministry of State for Antiquities), in a tomb adapted
for this purpose in Theban Necropolis near Luxor.
Right next to this place is the house Polish archaeologists use during
research at the temple of Hatshepsut under the supervision of Dr. Zbigniew E.
Szafranski from the Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology UW. Polish
Egyptologists visited the storage in search of possible blocks from the pharaoh
woman\'s temple.
Historical fragments in storage came from excavations conducted by one of
the Egyptian scientists in the 1970s. Iwaszczuk explained that the
archaeologist described his discovery as the temple of Cha-achet from the times
of the reign of Hatshepsut. In fact, the remains of that temple were discovered
only a few years ago by French archaeologists in the temple of Ramesses II -
the Ramesseum.
"My research had unexpected results. It turned out that all of the
discovered fragments came from the temple of Thutmose I. The location of the
temple - in the vicinity of the temple Thutmose of Thutmose III - had been
known for more than half a century. Until now researchers misidentified
it" - she said.
The main proof of the new discovery is the name of the temple of Thutmose I
- Khenemet-ankh (The one that unites with life), known from written sources,
and preserved on architectural fragments deposited in the storage.
Epigraphic analyses done in recent years by the Polish Egyptologist allowed
to recognize further information. While the temple was erected for Thutmose I,
it was commissioned by his daughter Hatshepsut. Two types of stone - limestone
and sandstone - were used in construction. It is unusual, argues Jadwiga
Iwaszczuk, because in the times of Hatshepsut limestone was mainly used. Her
entire temple in Deir el-Bahari was built from this material. However,
according to the Egyptologist, this was not a coincidence. Architects used
sandstone because they knew its properties as a hard but easy to carve stone.
All the supporting elements of the walls were made of sandstone, and the
filling and walls were made of limestone, the researcher said.
Among the curiosities of the temple, according to its discoverer, is one of
the first battle scenes with chariots known from the area of ancient Egypt.
On the basis of fine fragments, the researchers also determined that the
temple had been renovated. The deceased ruler was worshiped in the temple for
several hundred years after his death, certainly until the reign of Ramesses IX
(XII BC), but it is possible that the temple existed until the turn of the era.
Until now, Iwaszczuk\'s team has drawn about 5 thousand stone blocks and
photographed 7.5 thousand of them. Now, tedious work is being performed to
recreate the entire scenes that adorned the huge temple.
"Finally, it reached its sad end: like many other Theban temples, it
served as a quarry for the material for stone bowls. Only unused
post-production waste was left, including the fragmented decorative reliefs,
which today we use to try to recreate the full shape of the temple" -
concluded Iwaszczuk.
