1,500 painted blocks from Hatshepsut’s temple discovered –

Archaeologists have discovered approximately 1,500 ornately decorated stones that were once part of the valley temple of Queen Hatshepsut, the pharaoh of the 18th Dynasty. They were unearthed near the causeway of her magnificent mortuary temple at Deir Bahari in Luxor, Egypt. The colorful paint on the bricks is still bright and the reliefs and carvings are in good condition.

Queen Hatshepsut reigned from 1479 BC to 1458 BC. She was one of the few known female pharaohs and ascended the throne after the death of her husband Thutmose II. She was supposed to serve as regent for her stepson Thutmose III until he came of age, but a few years later she declared herself pharaoh. She demonstrated her power in the portrait, depicting herself with the pharaoh’s customary false beard, muscular build and bare breasts of the male pharaoh.

She was an effective monarch, investing in public works and infrastructure, and the great mortuary temple she built at Deir el-Bahri reached the pinnacle of her architectural style. Built at the base of a limestone cliff on the east side of the Valley of the Kings, the temple features terraced colonnades, pools, gardens and more than 100 colossal statues of Hatshepsut that are 10 feet tall.

Thutmose III was only in his 20s when he died, and he eventually ascended to the throne. Twenty years later, he decided to erase her from history, removing evidence of her kingship and thereby closing the gap between his father’s rule and his own. He ordered the destruction of her monuments, defacing her portrait and the cartouche of her name. The huge statues of her temple were smashed to pieces.

The main temple complex also contains the remains of Hatshepsut’s father Thutmose I, which has survived to become the most eye-catching structure in the Valley of the Kings today, but her Valley Temple (i.e., the tomb complex entrance) was demolished. Archaeological excavations at the site unearthed its foundations.

Tariq El-Awadi, deputy head of the Egyptian Archaeological Mission, gave a detailed introduction to the team’s major discoveries. These include the discovery of the foundational remains of the Valley Temple of Queen Hatshepsut, which once served as the grand entrance to the queen’s funerary complex, as well as more than 1,000 beautifully decorated blocks and fragments with rare bas-reliefs and inscriptions , shows the artistic achievements of the reign of Hatshepsut and her successor Thutmose III. Other finds include more than 100 limestone and quartz stelae bearing cartouches of Queen Hatshepsut, as well as a unique stele named after her famous architect, Senmut.

Avady added that the intact foundation deposits provide valuable insights into the temple’s construction and the queen’s legacy, calling them unparalleled since the excavations by Herbert L. Winlock a century ago. of.