Temple of Hatshepsut

A sphinx-lined causeway once led from the valley temple to this broad first court, planted with exotic myrrh trees brought back from Punt — their ancient root pits are still visible. From here the first great ramp rises to the porticoes above, framing the entire temple against the cliff face exactly as Senenmut intended.

The second level holds the temple's two legendary relief cycles. On the north side, the Birth Colonnade shows Amun-Ra taking the form of Thutmose I to father Hatshepsut — her divine claim to the throne. On the south, the Punt Colonnade records the great trading expedition ship by ship: loading the vessels, the stilted houses of Punt, and the famously corpulent Queen Ati of Punt.

Flanking the middle terrace are two side chapels. The Chapel of Hathor is instantly recognisable by its columns crowned with the cow-eared face of the goddess, who was worshipped at Deir el-Bahari long before the temple was built. The Chapel of Anubis preserves some of the site's most vivid original paint — its ceiling of golden stars on deep blue still glows.

The top level is fronted by a portico of Osiride statues — Hatshepsut standing as the god Osiris, arms crossed with crook and flail. Behind lies the festival courtyard where the sacred barque of Amun rested during the Beautiful Festival of the Valley, when Thebes crossed the river to honour its dead. This terrace, shattered in antiquity, was painstakingly reassembled by the Polish-Egyptian restoration mission.

Cut directly into the living rock of the cliff, the innermost sanctuary of Amun is the temple's holiest point. The building is aligned toward the winter-solstice sunrise: in late December the dawn light penetrates the axis to illuminate the inner chambers — a piece of astronomical engineering shared with Abu Simbel.