Thoth mountain - Thot-Berg

The so-called Thoth mountain (engl. Thoth Hill) is an archaeological site on the theban west bank about 3 kilometers north of the Valley of the Kings. At this point is the oldest known temple in Thebes, which was built over by the mud brick temple from the 11th dynasty that is visible today. The temple was dedicated to the god Horus. In view of the arduous ascent, archaeologists and Egyptologists will be mainly interested in this.

background

The local one temple was made in 1904 by the German Egyptologist Georg Schweinfurth discovered.^[1] Further excavations were carried out in 1909 by William Matthew Flinders Petrie carried out.^[2] Petrie found fragments of limestone inscribed on a door frame, named Mentuhoteps III. Se'anchkare, the 6th king of the 11th dynasty, and are now in the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden in Leiden. Petrie was the first to recognize that there are stone remains of an earlier temple under the temple.

Schweinfurth and Petrie found fragments of baboon statues of the god Thoth, leading to modern Naming of the mountain led. Thoth may also have been worshiped here.

Found between 1995-1998 Hungarian excavations held under Győző Vörös and Rezső Pudleiner. They completely exposed the younger Nile Mud Brick Temple, examined the stone remains of the older temple beneath the Nile mud paving, and suggested the date before the 11th Dynasty as its dating. This stone temple would be the oldest known Theban temple.

The older stone temple is comparable in plan and size with the later temple. The first temple had only one sanctuary. It may have been destroyed by earthquakes.

At the four corners of the temple an alabaster vessel, sacrificial bowls, animal figures made of terracotta and the remains of slaughtered animals were found in the foundation pits. The inscription, which was on the fragments of the limestone door frame and which could now be supplemented, read as follows: "Ḥr Sʿanḫ-t3wy-f ... the king of Upper and Lower Egypt Se'anchkare, son of Re Mentuhotep, he will live forever. He made it as his monument to Horus, who may give him life like Re. "

The place with its temple was the starting point of a desert road to Middle Egypt. Another building was found about 130 meters to the west, which probably served as accommodation for travelers and pilgrims.

getting there

To the area eṭ-Ṭārif you can drive a car. From now on, a rather difficult ascent to the west that extends over about 5 kilometers begins. For the ascent you should rely on the help of a local expert. The climb can take up to two hours.

There are several ways to climb. There are also signs on one of them that the site should not be visited. But it is not cordoned off. And if you have a permit with you, there shouldn't be any problems.

Tourist Attractions

The Temple of Month-Re is located on an almost 500 meter high mountain, the Thoth Mountain, in the West Theban Mountains and was built on an artificially created stone terrace. The temple is surrounded by a 21 m × 24 m brick wall, in the east of which the entrance is marked by a pylon.

Inside the enclosure is an 8 × 10 m brick temple with three chapels. The door to the sanctuary was originally made of limestone blocks, which were also named Menthuhoteps and the consecrated deity Horus. A limestone shrine stood in each of the three chapels.

kitchen

There is a small restaurant in the area of Sheikh ʿAbd el-Qurna about 100 meters east of the Ramesseums, more in Gazīrat el-Baʿīrāt and Gazīrat er-Ramla as in Luxor. At the end of a large courtyard is the rock grave, at the front of which there is a row of pillars.

accommodation

The closest hotels can be found in the area of Sheikh ʿAbd el-Qurna. There is also accommodation in Gazīrat el-Baʿīrāt and Gazīrat er-Ramla, Ṭōd el-Baʿīrāt, Luxor as Karnak.

literature

• Vörös, Gyözö; Pudleiner, Rezso: The Crown of Thebes. In:Egyptian Archeology: Bulletin of the Egypt Exploration Society, Vol.11 (1997), Pp. 37-40.
• Vörös, Győző; Pudleiner, Rezső: Preliminary Report of the Excavations at Thoth Hill, Thebes. The Temple of Montuhotep Sankhkara (Season 1995–1996). In:Announcements from the German Institute for Egyptian Antiquity in Cairo (MDAIK), vol.53 (1997), Pp. 283-287.
• Vörös, Győző; Pudleiner, Rezső: Preliminary Report of the excavations at Thoth Hill, Thebes. The Pre-11th Dynasty Temple and the Western Building (Season 1996–1997). In:Announcements from the German Institute for Egyptian Antiquity in Cairo (MDAIK), vol.54 (1998), Pp. 335-340.
• Voros, Gyozo: Temple on the Pyramid of Thebes: Hungarian Excavations on Thoth Hill at the Temple of Pharaoh Montuhotep Sankhkara 1995–1998. Budapest: Százszorszép Kiadó és Nyomda, 1998.

Web links

• The Thoth mountain by Elke Noppes

Individual evidence