lifestyle, Magical History
Temple of Hatshepsut (Deir el-Bahari)
This extraordinary beautiful Hatshepsut temple. The site of Deir el-Bahari is famous for containing the mortuary temple of Queen Hatshepsut( 18th Dynasty) (1473-1458 BC) on the western bank of Luxor. The temple consists of three tiered layers at the bottom of the valley, where the funeral rites were held for both Queen Hatshepsut who received the title of queen (the first female pharaoh) in addition to her father, King Tuthmosis I, where they were presented in offerings to ensure the queen’s soul eternal life in the next world. The site of Deir el-Bahari carried a measure of holiness because it is associated with the goddess Hathor who patronizes the kings of Egypt led by Lord Horus, the first and legendary ruler of Egypt.It was believed that the embodiment of that goddess was in the same hills whose shadow falls on the Temple of Hatshepsut, and on the other side of it are the tombs of some of the most famous kings of ancient Egypt in the New Kingdom. In the Valley of the Kings. We see the paintings bearing a prayer for Hathor in the form of a cow emerging from these mountains, the top of which appears in the form of a pyramid. The site of the mortuary temple on the western mainland was linked to the idea of sunset, as the journey of the god of the lower sun in the underworld. This temple was also on the other side with the Temple of Amun in Karnak on the eastern bank, where the statues of the Lord Amun, his wife Mutt and their son Khonsu were walking in an annual festive procession known as the Beautiful Valley Festival to cross the Nile and visit the royal funeral temples, including the Temple of Hatshepsut, which was one of the important stations for this procession. Hatshepsut preceded another king in establishing his funerary temple in that important area by about 600 years, King Mentuhotep Nebhepetre (2055-2004 BC) of the Middle Kingdom. Where his temple was built in a tiered form, Queen Hatshepsut inspired the design of her temple from him. 
