Below is an edited excerpt of an article that appeared in the Luxor Times Magazine two years ago (10 August 2020) about the Sun Cult complex in Hatshepsut's temple at Deir El-Bahari:
"The complex of the Sun Cult is a group of rooms located in the northern part of the upper terrace of Hatshepsut’s temple at Deir El-Bahari. It was first unearthed by the expedition of the Egypt Exploration Fund in 1893 under the direction of Edouard Naville and some of its texts and representations were published in his monumental publication of the whole temple."
The Night Sun chapel was decorated with the representations of the solar barque with the Sun god while his nocturnal journey in the netherworld. The location of the chapel in the eastern part of the complex stressed the idea of the resurrection of the Sun in the eastern horizon after having traveled through the netherworld at night. From this chapel comes also the very first attestation of the text called King as the Sun Priest, an important theological treatise that stresses the role of the pharaoh as the heir and the servant of the solar god.
The Altar courtyard is, contrary to the Night Sun chapel, open to the Sun light. The courtyard is dominated by the huge limestone altar which every day was touched by the Sun rays. This part of the complex is dedicated to the diurnal journey of the Sun in the sky.
Together with the Night Sun chapel it constitutes thus the small scale representation of the whole universe, mirroring the diurnal and nocturnal journey of the Sun god.
The main deity worshiped in the complex of the Sun cult was Amun-Re, but an important place was reserved also for Ra-Horakhty and Atum-Amun, which are nothing more than three different aspects and forms of the solar god, complementing each other. The rituals represented on the complex walls were performed by the king which once again stressed the role of the pharaoh as the heir of the Sun god. In the case of Hatshepsut it had also an additional purpose of the legitimization of her kingships as she claimed to be the bodily daughter of Amun-Ra himself."
"The complex of the Sun Cult is a group of rooms located in the northern part of the upper terrace of Hatshepsut’s temple at Deir El-Bahari. It was first unearthed by the expedition of the Egypt Exploration Fund in 1893 under the direction of Edouard Naville and some of its texts and representations were published in his monumental publication of the whole temple."
The Night Sun chapel was decorated with the representations of the solar barque with the Sun god while his nocturnal journey in the netherworld. The location of the chapel in the eastern part of the complex stressed the idea of the resurrection of the Sun in the eastern horizon after having traveled through the netherworld at night. From this chapel comes also the very first attestation of the text called King as the Sun Priest, an important theological treatise that stresses the role of the pharaoh as the heir and the servant of the solar god.
The Altar courtyard is, contrary to the Night Sun chapel, open to the Sun light. The courtyard is dominated by the huge limestone altar which every day was touched by the Sun rays. This part of the complex is dedicated to the diurnal journey of the Sun in the sky.
Together with the Night Sun chapel it constitutes thus the small scale representation of the whole universe, mirroring the diurnal and nocturnal journey of the Sun god.
The main deity worshiped in the complex of the Sun cult was Amun-Re, but an important place was reserved also for Ra-Horakhty and Atum-Amun, which are nothing more than three different aspects and forms of the solar god, complementing each other. The rituals represented on the complex walls were performed by the king which once again stressed the role of the pharaoh as the heir of the Sun god. In the case of Hatshepsut it had also an additional purpose of the legitimization of her kingships as she claimed to be the bodily daughter of Amun-Ra himself."
Credit for both images posted above: Luxor Times Magazine
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