Hatshepsut's Temple at Deir el Bahari - Paperback

by Frederick Monderson (Author)

Hatshepsut's Temple at Deir el Bahari is considered a wonderful experiment in ancient Egyptian art and architecture; as such it is a uniquely remarkable structure built in white limestone that's a sight to behold. More important, this work provides some insights into the men and a woman, avante garde in their thinking and actions at a time when females dared not rule! However, given the opportunity, Queen Hatshepsut ruled well and was involved in many remarkable adventures and building projects, chief of which was her mortuary temple at Deir el Bahari, on the west bank at Thebes that also highlights a diplomatic voyage to Punt on the East African coast; one of many remarkable experiences recorded for posterity. This wonderful structure, unique in many ways, was a classic in its days of active use and though time and man have taken some toll, it still radiates with magical, mystical, artistic splendor, millennia later. A three story structure when one was the norm, use of alternating columns and pillars in colonnade form, hundreds of statues of the Queen in various attitudes, art in remarkable raised and sunk reliefs, the earliest bequeathed anthropological study in history, shrines to several gods, employing a creative and innovative concept to justify divine right to rule, choice of a remarkable location for its construction, employment of line and space over distance, while employing ramps, courts and colonnades all magnificently blended and juxtaposed against the mountain as a backdrop, Exquisitely utilizing a nearby Middle Kingdom prototype as transition linking Old with New Kingdom building creativity, all have made this temple not simply the envy of the ancient world; it is a remarkable tourist attraction that leaves visitors breathless and in wonder at this classic piece of monumental architecture which salutes its architect Senmut, an avante garde revolutionary genuinely motivated by love of a beautiful lady. This work, Hatshepsut's Temple at Deir el Bahari, consists of two poems to God Amon-Ra and the temple of Deir el Bahari itself, an Overview, Introduction, essays on Hatshepsut and Senmut, reports on discovery of Mummies in the Deir el Bahari "Cache" of 1881, and conclusions by the author. In addition, it contains published reports written more than a hundred years ago when the Swiss Egyptologist Edouard Naville excavated the temple in the 1890s. Even more, some two dozen illustrations and many photographs, some old and new and others taken from the temple's "bird's eye view" on the mountain top (no longer possible), descending the mountain, as well as the ascent into and highlighting the structure's ramps, colonnades, shrines, walls, courts and its wonderful artistic depictions towards the middle and upper terrace at the mountain's base where resides its "Holy of Holies" Sanctuary.The photographs are designed to "let the monuments teach" and as such, they highlight the art and architectural wonder of the temple, magnificence of the architect's creation of art and architecture that blends beauty with ancient mystical spirituality; and as such, this work is considered a significant Guidebook for students, specialists and lay people as well as for tourists. fredsegypt.com@fredsegypt.com sumonpublishers.com@sumonpublishers.com blackegyptbooks.com@blackegyptbooks.com blackfolksbooks.com@bblackfolsbooks.com

Author Biography

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Frederick Monderson is a retired college professor and school teacher who taught African History in the City University of New York and American History and Government in the New York public schools. He has written nearly 900 articles in the New York Black Press, Daily Challenge, Afro Times and New American newspapers. In this venture, Monderson lends his expertise as a historian, Egyptologist, journalist and author of several books including Michael Jackson: The Last Dance, 50 on Point, Black Nationalism: Alive and Well, Barack Obama: Ready, Fit to Lead, Barack Obama: Master of Washington, D.C., Sonny Carson: The Final Triumph, and on ancient Egypt Seven Letters to Mike Tyson on Egyptian Temples, 10 Poems Praising Great Blacks for Mike Tyson, Intrigue Through Time, Temple of Karnak: The Majestic Architecture of Ancient Kemet, Where are the Kamite Kings?, Abydos and Osiris, Temple of Luxor, Medinet Habu: Mortuary Temple of Rameses III, The Quintessential Book on Ancient Egypt: "Holy Land" (A Novel on Egypt), Research Essays on Ancient Egypt, The Majesty of Egyptian Gods and Temples (a book of Egyptian Poems), Egypt Essays on Ancient Kemet, The Ramesseum: Mortuary Temple of Rameses II, The Colonnade: Then and Now, Reflections on Ancient Kemet, Grassroots View of Ancient Egypt and Glory of the Ancestors: 19 Letters to O.J. Simpson on Ancient African History. A student of the esteemed Dr. Yosef ben-Jochannan, Dr. Monderson conducts tours to Egypt. For Tour information, Please contact Orleane Brooks-Williams at Nostrand Travel, 730 Nostrand Avenue, Brooklyn, New York 11216. Phone Number 718-756-5300.