Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut
A masterpiece of ancient Egyptian architecture, this terraced temple rises dramatically from the desert floor at Deir el-Bahari, built to honour one of Egypt’s most remarkable pharaohs.
At a glance
Three massive terraces ascend the cliff face opposite Luxor, their colonnade architecture instantly recognizable. The temple combines mortuary function with a sanctuary dedicated to the solar god Amun-Re, a design wholly unique in the Egyptian tradition. Its axes were deliberately aligned to connect the pharaoh’s coronation and rebirth while receiving Amun-Re’s sacred barque during the Beautiful Festival of the Valley.
History
Hatshepsut commissioned the temple during her seventh to twentieth regnal years, a period of significant architectural ambition. Though influenced by the adjacent Temple of Mentuhotep II, built six centuries earlier, her structure achieved an unprecedented arrangement of chambers and sanctuaries.
The temple endured considerable damage. Within two decades of Hatshepsut’s death, Thutmose III systematically erased references to her rule—a campaign lasting two years until Amenhotep II’s accession. The motive remains unclear: perhaps rejection of female kingship or dynastic conflict. Later, Akhenaten’s erasure of Amun’s images defaced it again; subsequent pharaohs restored what was damaged. A Coptic monastery dedicated to Saint Phoibammon occupied the site between the 6th and 8th centuries AD, with Christian imagery painted over the original reliefs.
Modern scholarship began with Richard Pococke’s 1737 visit. Édouard Naville directed the Egypt Exploration Fund’s full excavation from 1893 to 1906. Herbert E. Winlock and the Metropolitan Museum of Art continued work from 1911 to 1936, followed by Émile Baraize and the Egyptian Antiquities Service until 1952. Since 1961, the Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology has undertaken extensive consolidation and restoration, culminating in the temple’s reopening to the public in March 2023.
What you see
The structure’s three terraces ascend the Deir el-Bahari cliffs in a series of colonnaded platforms. The middle terrace displays the temple’s most celebrated reliefs—depictions of Hatshepsut’s divine birth and an expedition to the Land of Punt that legitimized her claim to the throne as both royal offspring and godly progeny.
Separate shrines to the goddess Hathor and the god Anubis occupy the middle terrace. Below, the lowest terrace connects via causeway to an accompanying valley temple sited 1 kilometre east at the desert’s edge. Across the Nile, the temple’s axes align with the Eighth Pylon at Karnak, Hatshepsut’s most visible contribution to that vast complex and the departure point for the Beautiful Festival of the Valley’s ceremonial procession.
Cultural significance
This temple stands as one of ancient Egypt’s supreme architectural achievements. Its innovative arrangement—displacing the customary mortuary axis to accommodate Amun-Re’s sanctuary—demonstrates sophisticated theological and spatial thinking. The surviving reliefs, despite centuries of deliberate defacement and natural damage, remain powerful declarations of female pharaonic authority in a predominantly male-dominated institution.
Key facts
- Country: Egypt
- City: Luxor
- Coordinates: 25.73827778, 32.60658333
- Commissioned during the Eighteenth Dynasty reign of Pharaoh Hatshepsut
- Construction occurred over her seventh to twentieth regnal years
- Heavily influenced by the adjacent Temple of Mentuhotep II
Practical information & getting there
The temple is located on the west bank of the Nile opposite Luxor. It reopened to the public in March 2023 following extensive restoration. Consult local visitor information for current opening hours, admission fees, and accessibility arrangements.
Sources & resources
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