ISBN: 978-83-947612-1-9
Description: softcover, 159 pp., 34 plates (30x22 cm), drawings in text
Condition: new
Weight: 675g.

 

 

 

Daniel Takacs, Gebelein I, The Speos, Warsaw University, Warsaw 2020

This work is the publication of the documentation and analysis of the rock-cut chapel (speos) of Gebelein, Egypt by the author and the team of the University of Warsaw. The sanctuary which was originally built by Pharaoh Hatshepsut went through various modifications in its lifetime and is presently in a greatly deteriorated state. Architectural details and traces of the original decoration program are reproduced and analyzed in this work. A complex interpretation is offered for the presently visible offering scenes and their details in the chapel, as well as, the religious and ideological role of the monument in Hatshepsut's reign.


1. GEBELEIN’S LOCALITY AND WORKS IN THE SPEOS                              
2. GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE SPEOS                                         
  2.1 Introduction                                                        
  2.2 Location and access                                                  
  2.3 Entrance area and Room 1                                              
  2.4 The passage and Room 2                                                
  2.5 Remarks on architectural details of the speos                        
     2.5.1 The measurement system used in the speos                        
     2.5.2 Floor level                                                      
     2.5.3 Room 1                                                           
     2.5.4 Door                                                             
     2.5.5 Some details of the wall surface in Room 2                       
     2.5.6 Plaster                                                          
     2.5.7 The central and side niches                                      
  2.6 The decoration                                                        
     2.6.1 General remarks                                                  
     2.6.2 South Wall                                                       
     2.6.3 North Wall                                                       
     2.6.4 West Wall                                                        
     2.6.5 Preliminary conclusions on chronology                            
3. INITIAL CONCLUSIONS                                                      
  3.1 General remarks                                                       
  3.2 Chronological assumptions based on details of the rock-cut decoration
     3.2.1 Group 1 – Hathor with horizontal and vertical bands of text      
     3.2.2 Group 2 – Cartouches with epithets                              
     3.2.3 Group 3 – Text of natrons in front of the offering list          
     3.2.4 Group 4 – Type C list with offerings                             
     3.2.5 Group 5 – Standing figure as the performer of the offering rite
          and column of text as the label                                   
     3.2.6 Group 6 – Hathoric cult object                                   
  3.3 Summary                                                               

4. BRIEF SUMMARY OF SPEOI AND OTHER ROCK-CUT MONUMENTS                         
   4.1 Introduction Ð The phenomenon of speoi                                  
   4.2 Ground plans                                                            
      4.2.1 Theban tombs of the New Kingdom                                    
      4.2.2 Conclusions on the types of ground plans                           
   4.3 The decoration programs of speoi and related monuments                  
      4.3.1 Monuments constructed under Hatshepsut and Thotmes III             
      4.3.2 Other speoi of the 18th Dynasty                                    
      4.3.3 Ramesside speoi                                                    
      4.3.4 Smaller, shrine-size chapels                                      
      4.3.5 Conclusion on rock-cut monuments                                  
5. DISCUSSION OF THE DECORATION PROGRAM’S DETAILS                             
   5.1 Introduction                                                           
   5.2 The Type C list                                                       
   5.3 Analysis of offering scenes with Type C lists                         
      5.3.1 General remarks on the position and structure of the scenes      
      5.3.2 Type C lists at Deir el-Bahari                                    
      5.3.3 Type C lists in Karnak and Medinet Habu                           
      5.3.4 Type C lists in New Kingdom tombs                                 
      5.3.5 The role of the Type C list in the Opening of the Mouth ritual   
   5.4 Discussion of Text No.5 and 6: bd nsw, bd/nTrj Smj and bd/nTrj mHwj    
   5.5 Other details of the offering scene in the Gebelein speos             
      5.5.1 Name of Amun                                                      
      5.5.2 The royal figure as performer of offering                         
      5.5.3 Hathoric cultic object                                           
      5.5.4 The recipient of the offering ritual and the figure of the deity
6. DISCUSSION ABOUT THE ROLE OF THE SPEOS IN HATSHEPSUT’S REIGN               
   6.1 The sacred landscape of the Gebelein area Ð A brief overview           
   6.2 The chapel of Mentuhotep II and the cult of Hathor                     
      6.3.1 General assumptions on the nature of the rock-cut monument       
      6.3.2 The speos of Gebelein as part of a religious program              
      6.3.3 Other examples of divine ancestry                                
      6.3.4 Royal ancestors, duties and the royal kA                          
EXCURSUS: Orientation of the axis of the Gebelein speos                      
ABBREVIATIONS                                                                 
BIBLIOGRAPHY   
TABLE
PLATES
List of plates