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

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

. 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) ( ar, بني حسن) 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 Mem ...

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

temples A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...

here, both of which are dedicated to

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 t ...

. They are cut out of the rock into the cliffs on the eastern side of the

Nile The Nile, , Bohairic , lg, Kiira , Nobiin language, Nobiin: Áman Dawū is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa and has historically been considered ...

. One of the temples, built by the pharaoh

Hatshepsut Hatshepsut (; also Hatchepsut; Egyptian: '' ḥꜣt- špswt'' "Foremost of Noble Ladies"; or Hatasu c. 1507–1458 BC) was the fifth pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt. She was the second historically confirmed female pharaoh, aft ...

, has an

architrave In classical architecture, an architrave (; from it, architrave "chief beam", also called an epistyle; from Greek ἐπίστυλον ''epistylon'' "door frame") is the lintel or beam that rests on the capitals of columns. The term can ...

bearing a long dedicatory text with her famous denunciation of the

Hyksos Hyksos (; Egyptian '' ḥqꜣ(w)- ḫꜣswt'', Egyptological pronunciation: ''hekau khasut'', "ruler(s) of foreign lands") is a term which, in modern Egyptology, designates the kings of the Fifteenth Dynasty of Egypt (fl. c. 1650–1550 BC). T ...

.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: ; 323/322– 309 BC), sometimes erroneously called Aegus in modern times, was the son of Alexander the Great (Alexander III of Macedon) and Princess Roxana of Bactria. Birth Alexander IV was the son of Alexander th ...

. 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) was the second pharaoh of the Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt during the New Kingdom period, ruling c.1294 or 1290 BC to 1279 BC. He was the son of Ramesses I and Sitre, and the father of Ramesses II. The ...

in places, his name replacing that of Hatshepsut.

Cut from the living rock Cut may refer to: Common uses * The act of cutting, the separation of an object into two through acutely-directed force ** A type of wound ** Cut (archaeology), a hole dug in the past ** Cut (clothing), the style or shape of a garment ** Cut (e ...

, 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 Unfortunately, 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, was the sixth pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty. Officially, Thutmose III ruled Egypt for almost 54 years and his reign is usually dated from 28 ...

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 Echnaton, Akhenaton, ( egy, ꜣḫ-n-jtn ''ʾŪḫə-nə-yātəy'', , meaning "Effective for the Aten"), was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh reigning or 1351–1334 BC, the tenth ruler of the Eighteenth Dy ...

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 (; also ''Amon'', ''Ammon'', ''Amen''; egy, jmn, reconstructed as (Old Egyptian and early Middle Egyptian) → (later Middle Egyptian) → (Late Egyptian), cop, Ⲁⲙⲟⲩⲛ, Amoun) romanized: ʾmn) was a major ancient Egyptian ...

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

Thoth Thoth (; from grc-koi, Θώθ ''Thṓth'', borrowed from cop, Ⲑⲱⲟⲩⲧ ''Thōout'', Egyptian: ', 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 ibis or a ...

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