The Speos Artemidos (; Grotto of Artemis) is an archaeological site in

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

. It is located about 2 km south of the Middle Kingdom tombs at

Beni Hasan Beni Hasan (also written as Bani Hasan, or also Beni-Hassan) () is an ancient Egyptian cemetery. It is located approximately to the south of modern-day Minya in the region known as Middle Egypt, the area between Asyut and Memphis.Baines, John ...

, and about 28 km south of Al Minya. Today, the site is a small village known as Istabl Antar.

Jean-François Champollion Jean-François Champollion (), also known as Champollion ''le jeune'' ('the Younger'; 23 December 1790 – 4 March 1832), was a French philologist and orientalist, known primarily as the decipherer of Egyptian hieroglyphs and a founding figure ...

identified the temple as the Speos of

Artemis In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, Artemis (; ) is the goddess of the hunting, hunt, the wilderness, wild animals, transitions, nature, vegetation, childbirth, Kourotrophos, care of children, and chastity. In later tim ...

mentioned by the Greeks of antiquity. The Greeks identified the goddess

Pakhet In Egyptian mythology, Pakhet, Egyptian ''Pḫ.t'', meaning ''she who scratches'' (also spelt Pachet, Pehkhet, Phastet, and Pasht) is a lioness goddess of war. Origin and mythology Pakhet is likely to be a regional lioness deity, ''Goddess of ...

with Artemis. There are two

temples A temple (from the Latin ) is a place of worship, a building used for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. By convention, the specially built places of worship of some religions are commonly called "temples" in Engli ...

here, both of which are dedicated to Pakhet. They are cut out of the rock into the cliffs on the eastern side of the

Nile The Nile (also known as the Nile River or River Nile) is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa. It has historically been considered the List of river sy ...

. One of the temples, built by the pharaoh

Hatshepsut Hatshepsut ( ; BC) was the sixth pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Ancient Egypt, Egypt, ruling first as regent, then as queen regnant from until (Low Chronology) and the Great Royal Wife of Pharaoh Thutmose II. She was Egypt's second c ...

, has an

architrave In classical architecture, an architrave (; , also called an epistyle; ) is the lintel or beam, typically made of wood or stone, that rests on the capitals of columns. The term can also apply to all sides, including the vertical members, ...

bearing a long dedicatory text with her famous denunciation of the

Hyksos The Hyksos (; Egyptian language, Egyptian ''wikt:ḥqꜣ, ḥqꜣ(w)-wikt:ḫꜣst, ḫꜣswt'', Egyptological pronunciation: ''heqau khasut'', "ruler(s) of foreign lands"), in modern Egyptology, are the kings of the Fifteenth Dynasty of Egypt ( ...

.Speos Artemidos Inscription of Hatshepsut
based on the work of James P. Allen Nearby is a small shrine bearing the name of

Alexander IV of Macedon Alexander IV (Greek: ; August 323 BC – Late summer 309 BC), sometimes erroneously called Aegus in modern times, was the posthumous son of Alexander the Great (Alexander III of Macedon) by his wife Roxana of Bactria. As his father's ...

. An earlier temple was probably located here, but no traces older than that of Hatshepsut have been found. The decorations inside have been usurped by

Seti I Menmaatre Seti I (or Sethos I in Greek language, Greek) was the second pharaoh of the Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt during the New Kingdom of Egypt, New Kingdom period, ruling or 1290 BC to 1279 BC. He was the son of Ramesses I and Sitre, and th ...

in places, his name replacing that of Hatshepsut.

Cut from the living rock Rock-cut architecture is the creation of structures, buildings, and sculptures by excavating solid rock where it naturally occurs. Intensely laborious when using ancient tools and methods, rock-cut architecture was presumably combined with quarryi ...

, Hatshepsut's temple is composed of two chambers connected by a short passageway. The outer portico is rectangular and originally had eight stone columns arranged in two rows. Only three of the four columns forming the facade are still relatively intact and none of the internal pillars remain. The rock face above the external pillars of the portico is dressed and inscribed with text bearing Hatshesput's name. It includes the famous text in which she denounces the Hyksos and records her actions in rebuilding the damage they had caused thus legitimising her own reign. Within the portico only the southern wall bears any inscription. The text originally referred to Hatshepsut but was usurped by Seti I who also added further dedications.p12-13 Fairman, H.W and Grdseloff, B (1947) The smaller inner sanctuary is square with a statue niche at the back. It was not inscribed by Hatshepsut and Brand has suggested that it was in fact Seti who first excavated the passageway and sanctuary.P54 Brand (2000) Seti altered the text to replace Hatshepsut's name with his own and changed representations of the Queen to depictions of himself, but Fairman and Grdseloff argued that there was no clear evidence that

Tuthmosis III Thutmose III (variously also spelt Tuthmosis or Thothmes), sometimes called Thutmose the Great, (1479–1425 BC) was the fifth pharaoh of the 18th Dynasty of Egypt. He is regarded as one of the greatest warriors, military commanders, and milita ...

defaced the chapel when he was expunging her name from other monuments late in his reign despite the existence of his name on some of the pillars of the portico. This conclusion is queried by Brand who suggests that an image of the queen had been vandalised by Tuthmosis and later recarved to depict Seti. Likewise Fairman and Grdseloff did not find evidence that

Akhenaten Akhenaten (pronounced ), also spelled Akhenaton or Echnaton ( ''ʾŪḫə-nə-yātəy'', , meaning 'Effective for the Aten'), was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh reigning or 1351–1334 BC, the tenth ruler of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt, Eig ...

had defaced the name of Amun but Brand concluded that Seti had repaired this damage and notes at least one instance where an earlier version of one of the arms of

Amun Amun was a major ancient Egyptian deity who appears as a member of the Hermopolitan Ogdoad. Amun was attested from the Old Kingdom together with his wife Amunet. His oracle in Siwa Oasis, located in Western Egypt near the Libyan Desert, r ...

was still visible. Brand notes that Seti also replaced an image of a priest with that of the god

Thoth Thoth (from , borrowed from , , the reflex of " eis like the ibis") is an ancient Egyptian deity. In art, he was often depicted as a man with the head of an African sacred ibis, ibis or a baboon, animals sacred to him. His feminine count ...

and concludes that this was the result of the increasing influence of this god's temple in Hermopolis during the reign of Seti. Finally Brand notes that Seti added three scenes to the depictions of the coronation of Hatshepsut but (contrary to Fairman and Grdseloff) found no evidence that he had usurped these scenes from Hatshepsut.Fairman and Grdseloff 1947:13, Brand 2000:55-56

References

Further reading