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Mortuary Temple of Pharaoh Tuthmose III

Deir el Bahri - Theban Mortuary Temples - T vs MT - Thebes - The Places

Djeser-akhet

Holy of Horizon

Pharaoh Tuthmose III’s Mansion of Millions of Years

 

Pharaoh Tuthmose III, son of a minor wife, Isis, and Pharaoh Tuthmose II was not seen to be in line to the Throne when he was born, but fate intervened, and his father died when he was very young. The late Pharaoh’s Great Royal Wife, Queen Hatshepsut, took on the role of Regent, and as we know, later announced herself Pharaoh Hatshepsut.  His Mortuary Temple at Deir el Bahri was carefully placed within his Mortuary Complex to try and outshine his stepmothersers.

Constructed

The Temple was commissioned, and building commenced in Regnal year 43, during the last 10 years of Pharaoh’s reign by Vizier Rekhmire, the Temple was built from Sandstone and Limestone, and sat on a rocky platform that extended from the cliffs. Importantly it was above the earlier 2 Mortuary Temples on site and therefore was seen to dominate over them.

The Temple was dedicated to the God Amun and resembled the Mortuary Temple of Pharaoh Hatshepsut with ramped terraces leading to the higher Chapels. Unfortunately, Pharaoh never got to use the Temple for the reason he constructed it as it was probably not finished before Pharaoh died, leaving his son to take his place as Pharaoh Amenhotep II, who is the likely candidate who completed the building work on his late father’s behalf.

Use

It is thought that the Temple usurped the role that Pharaoh Hatshepsut’s Temple played in the Festival of, “Beautiful Festival of the Valley”, when the Sacred Barques of the Theban Triad left Karnak Temple on the East Bank of the Nile and visited the Mortuary Temples of the Pharaoh’s in the Theban Necropolis on the West Bank of the Nile. Pharaoh Tuthmose III’s Mortuary Temple would have been used as the nightly resting place of the Barques of the Deities during this Festival.

To learn more about the Theban Triad, click here.

To understand more about the Beautiful Festival of the Valley, click here.

 

Later History

  • An earthquake roughly 250 years after construction, at either the end of the 20th Dynasty or at the start of the 21st Dynasty Period, seems to have all but wiped out the Temple.
  • After its destructions its stones were robbed out and used as building materials.
  • During Coptic Christians period, the site became used as their Cemetery.

Pharaoh Tuthmose III's Life & Reign

Click on the Image to learn about the Life and Reign of Pharaoh Tuthmose III

KV34: Tomb of Pharaoh Tuthmose III

Click on the Image to learn about the King’s Valley Tomb of Pharaoh Tuthmose III

Pharaoh's Festival Hall at Karnak Temple

Click on the Image to visit Pharaoh’s Festival Hall at Karnak Temple

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