This is the Temple of Hatshepsut and I promise this is the last temple. This is the lady I was telling you about, she gained great power by becoming regent to her son who she tried to keep ignorant of the skills needed to rule as she wanted to stay in power, she advised his tutors to keep him occupied learning things that were not of any use. But this did not work as the tutors taught the son everything he needed to know. Once he grew up and seized power from his mother he destroyed or covered up all things that had her name on or that she had built. This is why her obelisks at Karnak were bricked up so to speak.
Here is one of the number of statues of Hatshepsut that lined the facade of the three levels of the temple. The style is different to any other in that it is a woman but she is posed in a position that was only used for men and the colour given to her skin is the dark pigment that again was only used for men. Hatshepsut was trying to get the message across that she was as good as any man and she was a good ruler, it was just her method of gaining that power that was not the best.
As you can see there were a number of statues lining the front of the temple, this is the top level.
I find this interesting, the roofs of all the temples are painted with, or were in the beginning, stars in a night sky, this is to show that the temple was not of the earth but of the sky. The ancient Egyptians believed that there were things that roamed the earth that were dangerous and would more or less steal you soul, but by painting the stars on the roofs meant that the temples were not part of the earth but the sky and so all the evil things on earth then had no power there. This is also why the gods are depicted as having the heads of animals, they would protect the people from the animals they were.
This is the Temple of Hatshepsut and I promise this is the last temple. This is the lady I was telling you about, she gained great power by becoming regent to her son who she tried to keep ignorant of the skills needed to rule as she wanted to stay in power, she advised his tutors to keep him occupied learning things that were not of any use. But this did not work as the tutors taught the son everything he needed to know. Once he grew up and seized power from his mother he destroyed or covered up all things that had her name on or that she had built. This is why her obelisks at Karnak were bricked up so to speak.
Here is one of the number of statues of Hatshepsut that lined the facade of the three levels of the temple. The style is different to any other in that it is a woman but she is posed in a position that was only used for men and the colour given to her skin is the dark pigment that again was only used for men. Hatshepsut was trying to get the message across that she was as good as any man and she was a good ruler, it was just her method of gaining that power that was not the best.
As you can see there were a number of statues lining the front of the temple, this is the top level.
I find this interesting, the roofs of all the temples are painted with, or were in the beginning, stars in a night sky, this is to show that the temple was not of the earth but of the sky. The ancient Egyptians believed that there were things that roamed the earth that were dangerous and would more or less steal you soul, but by painting the stars on the roofs meant that the temples were not part of the earth but the sky and so all the evil things on earth then had no power there. This is also why the gods are depicted as having the heads of animals, they would protect the people from the animals they were.
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