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| The
White Chapel |
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| Although
virtually nothing stands of the temple of Senusret I,
by pure chance one of his other buildings, a real architectural
jewel known as the White Chapel, can be seen in the
Open Air Museum at the site. The building had in fact
been destroyed in antiquity but its carved stone blocks
of Egyptian alabaster (calcite) were used as fill by
the builders of the Third Pylon (Amenhotep III). In
the course of restoration, the interior of the pylon
was cleared by Henri Chevrier in the 1920s and nearly
a thousand blocks belonging to at least eleven buildings
were recovered. The blocks belonging to Senusret’s
building were easy to identify because of their exquisitely
carved reliefs and inscriptions. When the puzzle was
finally put together in 1940 the result was a small,
open kiosk used |
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the pharaoh during his sed-festival,
celebrated after 30 years on the throne
to renew his power and potency. |
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| The
building is an almost square (6.8 x 6.45
metres) platform with a shallow staircase
with a central ramp at either end. Sixteen
square and oblong pillars support a roof
with a cavetto cornice, a type of concave
moulding decorated with leaves at the top
of a wall. It is thought to imitate the
overhang of a wall made of reed matting.
The corners of the building have semi-circular
torus roll moulding, which also imitates
the architecture of a reed hut. The pillars
around the outside are separated by low
balustrades with rounded tops, creating
a building that has a very open feel to
it. |
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| Carved
figures personifying the Nile and carrying
the names of various districts and buildings
founded by Senusret decorated the two ends
of the pavilion, on either side of the stairways,
while the sides carried lists of the nomes
of Upper and Lower Egypt along with some
geographical information including records
of the heights of the Nile flood. The emphasis
is definitely on Amun’s role as owner/manager
of the Land, who provides the life-giving
waters that restore its fertility. |
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| The
pillars are decorated with relief work of
exceptionally high quality, typical of the
Senusret’s works. Square peg holes
can be seen in the stonework, most likely
for the attaching sheets of hammered gold
over some of it. On the outside, carved
figures personifying the Nile and carrying
the names of various districts and buildings
founded by Senusret decorated the two ends
of the pavilion, flanking the stairways,
while the sides carried lists |
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of the nomes of Upper and Lower Egypt along with some
geographical information including records of the heights
of the Nile flood. The emphasis is definitely on Amun’s
role as owner/manager of the Land, who provides the
life-giving waters that restore its fertility. |
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| The
central theme in the decoration of the pillars involves
the pharaoh and Amun who takes the form of the fertility
god Min. The god stands mummiform and with an enormous
erection on top of a rectangular pedestal. He wears
a double feather crown on his head and carries a flail,
a symbol of kingship. Behind the god is a fenced enclosure
with tall heads of romaine (or cos) lettuce, considered
a particularly potent aphrodisiac by the ancient Egyptians
and thus a symbol of fertility. In other scenes, the
god is in his more usual guise and offers the king,
led by Re-Horakhty, the ankh symbol of life. The king
is shown wearing the White Crown of Upper Egypt, the
Red Crown of the Delta or the double crown of all Egypt—rituals
involving the pharaoh in all three roles were important
parts of the festival. In one scene he offers a conical
loaf of bread to Amun-Min in another, jars of perfumed
oil. |
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| Senusret
I wearing the Double Crown offering jars
of oil to Amun-Min |
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| Senusret
I wearing the Crown of Lower Egypt being
offered Life by Amun |
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is some debate over the specific function of structure.
At first it was assumed that it was a barque shrine,
where the boat carrying the statue of the god would
rest temporarily, and it has been restored with a pink
granite |
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| pedestal
of the appropriate height. However, the
object is inscribed with the names of Amenemhat
III and Amenemhat IV who reigned a century
or more after Senusret. Although it may
have been converted into a barque shrine
at this time, its original function is indicated
by the emplacement in the paving slabs for
a double throne, one for the king (or a
statue of the king) in each of his aspects.
Around the central pillars were sockets
in the floor and ceiling for a screen to
lend a little privacy. |
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| According
to the inscriptions that decorate its pillars,
it was originally located in an enclosure
known as the ‘High Lookout of Kheperkare.’
No one knows for certain where the enclosure
was except that it was undoubtedly nearby,
probably just outside the entrance to the
compound. However, there is good evidence
to suggest that the earliest version of
the Luxor Temple was already in existence
and so it is possible that the second approach
from the north was too, giving two possible
locations for the building. |
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| Other
Monuments |
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much better candidate for one of Senusret’s barque
shrines was recovered in fragments in the fill of one
of the pylons. Its decoration and ground plan is very
similar to well-documented later examples, such as the
one belonging to Amenhotep I that now stands in the
Open Air Museum. The building was made out of Tura limestone
and measures 4.4 x 3.2 metres. There are entrances at
both ends, which would have been fitted with double-leaved
doors—either bronze or gilded wooden panels. The
roof had a cavetto cornice and there was torus moulding
at the corners. Unlike the New Kingdom versions, which
had solid walls, this one had a small window on either
side. The reliefs that decorated the shrine both inside
and out were badly damaged during the reign of Akhenaten
but enough survives to reconstruct some scenes. One
on the inside wall shows Senusret in front of the sacred
barque, perhaps pouring out a libation. |
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| Like
the White Chapel, the barque shrine was built for Senusret’s
first sed-festival. It stood until the days of Horemheb,
the last of the pharaohs of the Eighteenth Dynasty,
when it was dismantled and used in the core of Pylon
IX. This would seem to suggest that it originally stood
somewhere in the immediate vicinity, most likely along
the southern approach to the temple. |
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| Another
small building belonging to Senusret I is black granite
naos dedicated to Amun that was found in the
court of Pylon VIII. It was carved from a single block
of stone and measured a little under a metre square
and stood 1.75 metres high (it looks more or less like
sentry box with a cavetto cornice). The outside was
decorated with reliefs of the pharaoh greeting the Amun
and there were inscriptions down each side of the door.
In the reliefs, the Senusret faces the door wearing
the southern crown on the right side and the northern
crown on the left, suggesting that the monument originally
faced east, probably along the southern approach. The
fact that the pharaoh faces outwards means that the
naos probably held a statue of him rather than
the god. |
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Plan
of the White Chapel
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| Interior
of the White Chapel |
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| Hieroglyphics
on one of the pillars |
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| Starry
Ceiling of the White Chapel |
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