Deir el-Ḥagar - Deir el-Ḥagar

Deir el-Hagar (also Deir el-Haggar, Arabic:دير الحجر‎, Dair al-Ḥaǧar, „the stone monastery“) Is the modern name of a Roman temple for the Theban triad or trinity of gods Amun-Re, Mut and Chons in the northwest of the egyptian Sink ed-Dāchla West of Qasr ed-Dachla. It is the most important and best preserved pharaonic temple complex in the valley.

background

The Temple complex for the Theban triad Amun-Re, Mut and Chons in Deir el-Ḥagar is in the northwest of the depression ed-Dāchla a good 7 kilometers southwest of the city el-Qaṣr. The temple is the best preserved complex of its kind in this valley. The local worship of the Theban gods reveals the extensive sphere of influence of the priesthood Thebes.

The designation Deir el-Ḥagar is modern and means stone monastery. The pharaonic place name was Set-waḥ (s.t-w3ḥ, s3-w3ḥ, "Rest Area").^[1] The pharaonic place name stands for the entire settlement Amḥeida including their cemeteries (e.g. Qārat el-Muzawwaqa) and their temples. The temple complex of Deir el-Ḥagar is thus part of a common cult landscape.

In addition to the gods of the Theban triad, the scribe god was also worshiped here Thoth and his mate Nehemet-awai (also Nehemet-await, Take-awai, Nehemet-inyt, "Who takes care of what is robbed"), is the patron goddess of law and justice and was later equated with the Greek Dikaiosyne. As a triad with their son, the sun god Schepsi, they were also in Hermopolis magna adored. Little is known about the cult of the goddess, documented only since the 18th dynasty. She was mainly depicted in the temples of the Greco-Roman times and often bears the epithet "mistress of the city". Their distinguishing feature is usually the chapel-shaped sistrum, a hand rattle. More rarely she wears the cow's horn and the sun disk, the hallmarks of the Hathor, with which she also merged in the late period.^[2] The worship of Thoth should certainly establish a connection to the Thoth temple in Amḥeida.

As the graffiti at the entrances to the temple show, a big festival in honor of the Theban triad was celebrated here every year. The multi-day festival began on the 1st Tybi (1st Ta-abet) in the first month of Peret-Season ("sprout" after sowing). This would correspond to the beginning of November today.

The start of building of the Roman temple probably dates to the first half of the first century AD. Several Roman emperors immortalized themselves here between Nero (Reigns 54 to 68) and Hadrian (Reigns 117 to 138). The temple was destroyed at an early stage, probably in Roman times, certainly by an earthquake. The ceiling stones also broke and fell. In the period that followed, the temple silted up almost completely.

Since Beginning of the 19th century the temple was visited by several European travelers. This was the British in 1819 Archibald Edmonstone (1795–1871)^[3] and the Italian Bernardino Drovetti (1776–1852)^[4], 1820 the French Frédéric Cailliaud (1787–1869)^[5], 1832 the British George Alexander Hoskins (1802–1863)^[6], 1874 the German Africa explorer Gerhard Rohlfs (1831–1896)^[7] and his photographer Philipp Remelé (1844–1883), 1875 the German Egyptologist Heinrich Brugsch (1827–1894)^[8] and from May 17 to 20, 1908, the American Egyptologist Herbert Eustis Winlock (1884-1950). The inscriptions recorded by the Rohlfs expedition were made by the German Egyptologist in 1874 Karl Richard Lepsius (1810-1884) published.^[9]

Philipp Remelé, participant of the Rohlfs expedition, supervised the clearing of the sanctuary (Holy of Holies) in order to be able to take photographic recordings. With the simplest means, stones and sand were removed. Because of this, the ceiling stones that were not decorated were also smashed. The stones of the sanctuary, which weighed tons, were preserved and removed. Apart from sand, there were no other finds in the sanctuary.

In the 1960s to 1972 Smaller excavations and probes were carried out here by the Egyptian Egyptologist Ahmed Fakhry (1905-1973). The finds such as sphinxes were transferred to the archaeological museum el-Chārga brought. Research into the temple area has been carried out by the Dakhleh Oasis Projects (DOP) since 1978. However, the temple was only uncovered and restored by employees of the DOP in 1992–1995.^[10] The previously unknown reliefs in the pronaos also came to light. Olaf Kaper examined the restored sanctuary ceiling in 1992/1993 and described the decoration of the gate passages in 1995.

A complete description of the temple is still not available. The century-old description of Winlock, especially the drawings on the tablets, is the most important source to this day.

getting there

The archaeological site can be reached via the trunk road from ed-Dāchla to el-Farāfra. 8.5 kilometers west of Qaṣr ed-Dāchla is there a 25.69198628.8075951 Junction(25 ° 41 ′ 31 ″ N.28 ° 48 ′ 27 ″ E) south to Deir el-Ḥagar. After another 4.5 kilometers you reach the site on an asphalt road.

mobility

The way to the temple is filled with pebbles, the underground in the temple are stone slabs.

Tourist Attractions

The 25.6648328.813311 Temple for Amun-Re, Mut and Chons(25 ° 39 '53 "N.28 ° 48 '48 "E.) is accessible daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The admission price is LE 40 and for students LE 20. There is also a combined ticket for all archaeological sites in ed-Dāchla for LE 120 or LE 60, which is valid for one day (as of 11/2019).

The temple for the Theban trade Amun-Re, Mut and Chons is 78.5 meters long (east – west) and 41 meters wide Adobe wall surrounded, which was covered with stucco. The main entrance to the east-west facing temple is in the middle of the east side of this wall. The sandstone gate was made by Kaiser Domitian (Reigns 81–96) decorated, but his name was later erased with plaster. The ostracism of kings is known from Hatshepsut and Akhenaten, but also occurs under Roman emperors such as Commodus in Edfu and Geta in Esna. At the bottom right you can see the emperor, how he two Udjat eyes to the creator god Min-Re and the lion-headed Repit (Greek. Triphis) presented. The main place of worship of these gods is Upper Egypt Athribis. Above this register (picture strip) there is still Domitian's sacrifice to Khnum-Re and Sothis or the remains of another register with sacrificial acts by the emperor. On the left the emperor sacrifices before Amun-Re and Mut. The portrayal of Domitian's victim to Ptah and Sachmet was not reinserted into the gate until 2006. The inside of the gate shows field goddesses and Nile gods on the base.

There was another entrance on either side of the main entrance. The southern entrance, which can be reached from the inside, has a representation in red and black on the northern side. Above you can see the bust of the bearded one Sarapammon-Hermes with ram horns, the atef crown and the staff of Hermes. The bust is located above the sacrificial altar. To the left of the altar is a baboon representing the screaming god Thoth, and to the right a ram as a symbol of Amun. Both have a crescent moon and a moon disc on their head. There are 16 Greek inscriptions in the area containing prayers from private individuals. One of the inscriptions dates from the reign of Antoninus Pius (138-161). This graffiti was put up during the annual festivals in honor of Amun-Re, which have been performed here since AD ​​78. The southern side of the passage was once decorated too. However, nothing is left today. It showed, among other things, one of the two Dioskur twins in combat clothing on horseback, on the left the ibis-shaped Thoth and the ram-shaped Amun and on the right a crouching baboon.

Columned halls were located on the inner north, east and south sides of the enclosing wall. A dromos (corridor-like path) with ten pairs of columns leads to the temple. Such routes have a Hellenistic model and are otherwise not common in Egypt. Sphinxes with human, ram or lion heads and altars were set up between the columns. Some of the sphinxes are now in the archaeological museum of el-Chārga presents. Another altar marks the end of the path.

The Sandstone temple consists of a pronaos (temple vestibule), a four-column hall ("hall of the apparitions"), the sacrificial hall and the sanctuary with its two adjoining rooms. The pronaos is wider than the rest of the temple. The temple is 16.2 meters long and 7.5 meters wide without the pronaos.

The Pronaos consists of two rows with four columns. The front row also forms the facade, which was closed off with barrier walls. In addition to the main entrance in the middle of the facade, the pronaos also had an entrance on both sides. The decoration of the pronaos came from the emperor Titus (Reigns 79-81). The barrier walls show lapwing below (RechitBirds) on papyrus plants. The right wall of the barrier shows the cleansing of the emperor by the gods Thoth and Horus. From the left wall of the barrier only the lowest stone layer is preserved: once the king with a palm panicle could be seen here between two goddesses, perhaps on the anniversary of his coronation. The inside of the barrier walls have a surrounding bench.

In the pronaos, only the back walls and the passage to the columned hall were decorated. The representations were executed as a high-quality raised relief. One of the pillars has visitor inscriptions, most of which come from participants in Rohlfs' expedition in January 1874. The inscriptions show how high the sand was at that time. The Rohlfs expedition - note the spelling mistake in the title - included G. Rohlfs, C. Zittel, W. Jordan, P. Ascherson, Ph. Remelé - as you can read on the left - and E. Walther, F. Seckler, J. Morlock, M. Korb and A. Taubert.

According to the report of the Rohlfs expedition and Winlock, the pillars had palm leaf and papyrus capitals with a diameter of 1.6 meters.

The back walls of the pronaos are provided with depictions of the sacrifice of Titus in three registers one above the other and on the base register. The upper left register shows the sacrificing Titus in front of the three seated deities Amun, Chons and Mut. In the following register, Titus sacrifices to the ram-headed Amun, Chons-the-Child and Courage. In the third register, Titus sacrifices land to Amun, Chons-the-child and courage. In the base register, Titus sacrifices to Amun and courage, behind Titus are Nile gods. The top right register also shows Titus sacrificing before three seated gods. In the second register he sacrifices to Amun, Mut and Chons-dem-Kind. In the following register he again sacrifices to Amun-Re, Chons and Mut. The line of inscription below names the emperor's title: "Horus name 'beautiful youth, sweet to love', mistress name: 'who protects Egypt and subdues foreign countries', gold Horus name: 'rich in years, great in victory', lord of the two countries, emperor Titus. ”Similar to the other side, Titus sacrifices in the base register in front of Thoth and Nehemet-awai in the presence of Nile gods.

Also the decoration of the Entrance to the pillared hall comes from Titus. Above the gate there is a hollow with the representation of the winged sun Behedet. Most of the representations on the lintel have been lost. The fall contained a double scene: on the left, the emperor sacrifices to Amun-Re, Mut and Chons as well as Amun-Re and Mut. On the right side he sacrifices to Amun-Re, Month and Chons as well as to Thoth and Nehemet-awai.

On the doorposts, one recognizes Titus in five scenes of sacrifices in front of pairs of gods. On the base of the post is Horus on the left and Thoth on the right, as they make water ḥes- Pour vases. This representation symbolizes the purification ritual of the priests when they enter the temple. The lower three registers still have remnants of their original painting.

The left post shows from top to bottom (1) the sacrifice of Titus in front of Thoth and Nehemet-awai, (2) his sacrifice to Amun-Re and Mut, (3) Titus wearing a Wesekh collar on Atum and Hathor- nebet-hetepet presented, (4) Titus, who brings the flood of the Nile to Khnum-Re and Sothis, gods from Elephantine, and (5) Titus with lettuce in front of Min-Re and Harsiese. The right post shows from top to bottom (1) the sacrifice Titus ’in front of Seth and Nephthys, (2) his sacrifice to the (destroyed) Ptah and Sekhmet, (3) Titus who Heh-Symbol presented in front of the air god Schu and the lion-headed Tefnut to request rule for a million years, (4) Titus, who sacrifices water and incense to Osiris and Isis, as well as (5) Titus with an atef crown, to whom a papyrus plant and lotus are to be given Amun-Re and courage brings.

The following Four pillar hall has the function of the “hall of apparitions”, but is undecorated including the columns.

The Access to the sacrificial room was designed by Domitian. When Winlock visited the temple in 1908, the representations were still in full color and in place. Hardly anything has survived from the former chamfer. On the other hand, the lintel is much better preserved here. As king of Upper and Lower Egypt, the emperor performs various rituals before Amun-Re. The fall contains a double scene. On the left the emperor is walking with one hes-Vase to Amun-Re and courage and offer a portrait of the mate to Amun-Re. On the right the emperor is walking with one hes-Vase of chons and courage and sacrifices an udjat eye to Amun-Re.

The posts again had five registers in which the emperor sacrifices to two deities. Two or three of the registers are more or less destroyed. There are lions on the pedestal, which are supposed to guard the passage to the sacrificial hall. On the right post, from top to bottom, you can see Domitian, as he recognized water in front of Amun-Re and Mut (1st register, lost today), Chons and Mut (2), the ram-headed Amun-Re and Mut (3) Chons and the lost courage (4) as well as to Amun-Re and courage (5). On the left post, sacrificial acts were performed in front of Thoth and Nehemet-awai (1st register, lost today), Amun-Re and Mut (2), Chons and Mut (3), Amun-Re and Mut (4) and before Chons-dem -Child and Courage (5) running.

Now you get to the undecorated Sacrificial roomwhich has no built-in components and is about 6 meters wide, 3 meters deep and 4.4 meters high.

The entrance to the Sanctuary was made by the emperor Vespasian (Reigns 69–79). The upper end is again a cove with the winged sun. The lintel once contained four scenes, the middle two are lost. On the far left the emperor sacrifices vessels to Chons and Courage, to the right in front of Amun-Re. On the far right, the emperor sacrifices land to the ram-headed Amun and his companion Mut. In each of the three registers without inscriptions, the emperor sacrifices before deities. On the left-hand side from above, these are Thoth with Atef crown and Nehemet-awai (1st register), Chons-das-Kind with moon and crescent moon and courage (2) and the ram-headed Amun-Re with double feather crown and courage (3) . On the right post in the top register are Osiris with an Atef crown and his companion Isis, in the second Amun-Re with a double feather crown and courage and in the third register Min-Re with a double feather crown and repit (Triphis) to recognize. A three-column hymn text was written on the base of the post.

The inside of the door has four serpent and four falcon deities on the lintel, with an ancient being in between. There are gods on the posts and entrance walls and field goddesses on the base.

The 4 meter wide, 3.3 meter deep and 3 meter high sanctuary has depictions of Vespasian in two registers on the side walls and Nero on the back wall. The upper conclusion is a Cheker-Fries. Behind the entrance there is a plinth with the name of Hadrian on it.

The representations on the left wall are best preserved. In the upper register there are three scenes: Vespasian offers an image of the mate to Amun-Re, Mut and Chons, Vespasian offers flowers to Sutech (Seth) and Nephthys, and Vespasian offers wine to Re-Harachte and Hathor. There are two scenes in the lower register: Vespasian offers incense to Amun-Re, Mut and Chons-the-Child, and Vespasian offers incense and water to Min, Osiris-Onnophris, Horus, Isis and Nephthys.

The right wall is constructed similarly. Vespasian is shown in three sacrificial scenes in the upper register. He sacrifices to Theban Triad, to Thoth and a goddess, and to two deities. In the lower register, Vespasian sacrifices to the Theban triad as well as to Schu, Tefnut, Geb and Nut.

On the back wall, Nero sacrifices in double scenes above to Amun-Re and Mut and below to Amun-Re and Mut von Ascher. Nero is also represented on the base in the presence of Nile deities.

The former Ceiling of the sanctuary is now in the southwest corner of the temple grounds. The 3.52 × 2.42 meter ceiling was composed of five sand stand blocks with a thickness of about half a meter. The one dating from the 2nd century AD astronomical representation is a special feature, especially because it was placed in the sanctuary and not in another, lighter place. Comparable representations can be found e.g. in royal tombs, but also in the temple vestibule (pronaos) of the temple of Esna, to which the representation here has the most parallels. The upper edge of the relief was in the sanctuary in the north and the right side - because it was above the head - in the west. For reasons of space, the astronomical representations are not complete.

In the first register, the representation of a curved deity is immediately noticeable, which one would probably address as the sky goddess Nut. According to Kaper, however, it is about the earth god Geb, who wears a female hairstyle and breasts, but also the male gender. Geb encloses empty text fields and the head-standing god Osiris. To the left of Geb would be Orion, now lost, on a boat and behind that a falcon standard and the sky and New Year goddess Sothis on a boat. On the right hand side you can see ten gods on two smaller registers. The top five deities and the two back ones of the lower register represent seven (of the 36) dean stars. Furthermore, one recognizes a turtle, symbol of the Nile flood, a goddess and a heron, which represents the planet Venus. Venus is the only planet shown here. The first register focuses on the course of the year between the New Year and the flood of the Nile.

The second register is dedicated to the days of the month. 16 gods approaching an udjat eye form the phases of the waxing moon. Below is a somewhat wider band with the sun disk, in which there is a little boy, and the moon disk with a monkey. To the left there are two gods who are holding hands on a boat. This is arguably a symbol of union.

The third register shows the sun's night travel from west (right) to east (left). On the right, three jackals pull the sun barge. Before that there are six (actually twelve) hours of the night. Then there is again a sun barge in the presence of star goddesses. At the end there is the rising sun with a scarab on the solar disk, which is worshiped by a baboon.

The lowest register is certainly dedicated to the twelve months of the solar year. To the left you can see a winged scarab, symbol of the east wind, and a bull, symbol of the zodiac sign Taurus (Taurus). The winged ram on the opposite right-hand side symbolizes the north wind. The twelve months are symbolized by various gods, including from left to right Hathor (1), the hippopotamus goddess Opet (2), the creator god Tutu (Tithoes) on a pedestal (3), Osiris (?, 4), a god, Horus (?, 6), two other deities, Chons (9), the harvest god Chenti-chet (10), a falcon-headed god and the crouching sun god Re-Haracht (12).

kitchen

• El-Qasr Resthouse. Tel.: 20 (0)92 286 7013. The rest house is located in el-Qaṣr directly on the north side of the street. It has a back garden. Advance booking is recommended.last change: not specified

accommodation

Accommodation is available in courage, in Qasr ed-Dachla, in Biʾr el-Gebel and along this road to Mūṭ.

trips

It is advisable to visit Deir el-Ḥagar with Qaṣr ed-Dāchla and Qārat el-Muzawwaqa connect to. The latter site is currently not open to tourists.

literature

• Winlock, H [erbert] E [ustis]: Ed Dākhleh Oasis: Journal of a camel trip made in 1908. new York: Metropolitan Museum, 1936, Pp. 29-33, panels XVII-XXV.
• Kaper, Olaf E.: The Astronomical Ceiling of Deir el-Haggar in the Dakhleh Oasis. In:Journal of Egyptian Archeology (JEA), Vol.81 (1995), Pp. 175-195.
• Kaper, Olaf E.: Doorway Decoration Patterns in the Dakhleh Oasis. In:Kurth, Dieter (Ed.): Systems and programs of Egyptian temple decoration: 3rd Egyptological Temple Conference, Hamburg, June 1-5, 1994. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 1995, Egypt and Old Testament; 33.1, Pp. 99-114, especially pp. 102-104, 112.
• Kaper, Olaf E.; Worp, Klaas, A.: Dipinti on the temenos wall at Deir el-Haggar (Dakhla Oasis). In:Bulletin de l’Institut français d’archéologie orientale (BIFAO), vol.99 (1999), Pp. 233-258.
• Museum Schloss Schönebeck (Ed.): Photographs from the Libyan desert: an expedition by the Africa explorer Gerhard Rohlfs in 1873/74, photographed by Philipp Remelé. Bremen: Ed. Temmen, 2002, ISBN 978-3-86108-791-5 , Pp. 57-62.
• Hölbl, Günther: Ancient Egypt in the Roman Empire; 3: Sanctuaries and religious life in the Egyptian deserts and oases. Mainz on the Rhine: Babble, 2005, Zabern's illustrated books on archeology, ISBN 978-3-8053-3512-6 , Pp. 81-88.

Individual evidence