Greek Graffiti from Der el Bahari and El Kab

Extract

The following inscriptions were copied during the winter of 1897–8: those from the temple of Der el Bahari in November and December; those from the neighbourhood of El Kab in February, 1898.

Der el Bahari.—The funerary temple of Queen Hatshepsut of the XVIIIth Dynasty, dedicated in honour of Amen Ra, and now known as Der el Bahari, stands on the western side of the Nile valley, under the eastern cliffs of the limestone ridge which separates the valley of the tombs of the kings from the great Theban cemetery which stretches from Goornah to Medinet Habou. The temple is laid out at three levels, having an entrance court on the lowest level, from which there is access by a central incline to a second or middle court, and this leads to a third or upper court, whose western and northern sides are built against the cliffs in which the sanctuary is excavated. All the graffiti given here (Fig. 1) come from the Eastern and Southern walls of this upper court. They are noted in the order they occur, on the Eastern wall from N. to S., on the Southern wall from E. to W.