temple-chapel of Qasr (or Kasr) el Aguz room 2

 

ROOM 2
  7.45m, 3.55m t and 3.6m high.


It is only in this room, and on the room 1 side of the lintel of the entrance to it, that the representations of the two mortal divinities, Imhotep son-of-Ptah and Amenhotep son-of-Hapu can be found; they are not represented elsewhere in the sanctuary.

BASE REGISTERS

it was buried under the rubble accumulated over the centuries, which had heightened the level of the temple floor by about a metre. It was therefore necessary to clear this to reveal the lowest part of the wall.  It provided a protective dado area, above which the main decorated register or registers was placed.


 this room, is decorated. It has three scenes,  the characters are a lot smaller than those of the upper registers
The first  have retained the characters, which represent nomes, shown heading towards the doorway to room 3. There is no identity or insignias of the nomes which were placed above their heads, nor of the vertical inscriptions which accompany them.


The last scene, extreme left,
On the right, the king, wearing the crown of the North, is followed by his wife Cleopatra wearing a Hathoric headdress. Both present plates charged with flowers and fruits to two divinities, a seated god and a standing goddess, of which can be seen only the bottom parts of the body. These are almost certainly Thoth and Nehemauait.
Nothing remains of the hieroglyphs drawn above the god and goddess, nor behind the goddess, nor in the framing column, nor of the two other vertical columns, which closed the scene on the right, behind queen Cleopatra. However the cartouches of both Ptolemy and Cleopatra have remained.

 a horizontal inscription had been engraved, of which only a few signs remain.

EAST WALL, SOUTH OF THE DOORWAY FROM ROOM 1

This part was  not finished. , it has no base register, nor in this case even a lower main register. The upper register does exist and has only one scene, which includes four figures. Now it is only just possible to guess at the representations.


Ptolemy on the left (destroyed), coming as if from the entry, presents his two open hands in front of a group comprised of the popular image of Thoth with the two mortal divinities, Imhotep son-of-Ptah and Amenhotep son-of-Hapu .

The three divinities are seated on identical chairs resting on a raised dias; all hold in their left hand an ankh sign and in the right a was-sceptre. Thoth and Imhotep both wear the shenti which comes to just above the knees. Amenhotep is distinguishable by his long dress and by the fact - of obscure significance - that both of his feet are visible.
Immediately in front of the king is the ibis-headed Thoth. On his head is an atef-like crown, resting on a pair of rams horns. Unfortunately the epithets of Thoth are lost,  this triad was appropriate to the function of healer, or more precisely of maintenance of health. Thoth's epithets were probably similar to those of his companions, part of which is given below.

Behind Thoth is Imhotep. His head is covered, as always, by a cap similar to the one normally worn by Ptah. The text written above him includes: "He who procures the remedies for all illnesses". Finally, on the right, is the scribe Amenhotep, looking normal in his full wig. His text includes: "I remove all illness from your members".

Considering the presence of the other two and their functions, it is natural to think that Thoth was present as the supreme doctor. It is possible that patients in search of recovery came to the temple to implore these divinities or to make offerings to them.

SOUTH WALL

Lower register:
Painted in red,  it is almost invisible. However, some detail is can be seen. It was divided into two unequally sized scenes.

• The first scene and smallest, on the left, only consisted of two characters, the king and a goddess. She, was  wearing the red crown, thus making her either Nit (also known as Neith, the mother of Sobek, the crocodile god) or Amunet (the female equivalent of Amon, both of whom were present in creation myth of Khnum, being responsible for the air and hidden powers).

• The second,  contained four characters, like the corresponding scene in the upper register. Virtually nothing remains of the figures.

Both of the scenes were already in ruins at the time of Champollion..

Upper register:
It is possible to guess the remains of two scenes (which are again only painted in red).

• The first scene: On the left stands the king (at least the upper part of him) wears the pschent (or double crown) worn on top of an ample wig, his hands outstretched, palms uppermost, in front of a goddess. On her head she wears a disk between two horns. According to her identifying text, she is: "Rait-taui, resident in Thebes. Nit, mother of Asten (the usual name for Thoth, when he is represented as the baboon; but the baboon is not used as decoration anywhere in this temple), gold of the gods, electrum of the goddesses, lady of the amulets".
The two cartouches of the king have been destroyed.


• The second scene: The left side, where the king must have been, is completely damaged; on the right are three gods, Thoth seated and standing behind him are Hu and Sa.

The ibis-headed Thoth wears the atef-like crown. From his text, he is called: "The very great, Lord of Khmun, setem (priest), who resides in Dja-Mut, who puts the gods in peace and who is loved by the goddesses". In front of him were five vertical columns, the first four of which have been lost. They will have contained his speech addressed to the king.

	Dja-Mut (better known as Djeme, or the Mound of Djeme) is the sacred location on the west bank of Thebes, where the Ogdoad (the eight dieties of the creation myth) were supposed to have been buried when they died. Because of its religious connection, Medinet Habu was later built on top of this location. Hence, Medinet Habu is also called the "Mound of Djeme".

Behind him, as if walking, are two male divinities each wearing a knee-length usual tunic with a jackal tail attached to the belt. Their heads and headdress are almost destroyed.
Above the first can be read: "Hu. the great, the master of nourishment". Whilst a vertical inscription in front of him has him to saying: "I give you everything which comes from the Nile".
Above the second: "Sa, the master of the provisions, the chief of fishing, following Thoth in [Pa-Khmun]. He says: "I give you all goods ...".

WEST WALL, SOUTH OF THE DOOR BETWEEN ROOMS 2 AND 3

This includes two registers with a single scene in each.

Lower register:
This is a single scene of three characters: the king, Amon-Ra and a goddess. Euergetes, standing, was wearing of a crown which has disappeared, leaving only the two ram's horns which supported it. Also missing is the contents of the cartouches, and everything which was above the king, this part having only been a painted feature. With his right hand, he presents to the god an object, which is shown to be the sekhem-sceptre and holds in his other hand a stem of a plant or a bouquet.


Between the king and the seated god is a pile of offerings: at the top, flowers arranged on a plate; below, two baskets, one filled with small nu-vases, the other filled with things of an ovoid shape. Between them is a cluster of grapes. Below these are three dressed geese, one each above a small pile of different breads and the third placed between them; the rest of the offerings are erased. In the upper area, above this are the remains of possibly five columns of text, now illegible.

The god, in front of whom these offerings have been placed, is Amon-Ra, wearing the two great feathers. Only part of the four columns of his titles can be read: "Lord of the sky, of the land, ..., of waters and mountains".

Behind him stands a goddess, whose crown has been erased, as well as the legend which identified her, but probably Mut, the normal companion of Amon. Her right arm is raised, the hand open, making the gesture of abeyance to him; her left hand, hanging down at her side, holds the ankh sign of life.

Upper register:
Another single scene, painted only, and containing five characters: the king, the queen and three divinities. The strange thing about this scene is that it contains two images of Thoth, one seated before the king, the other standing behind the goddess. It is the scene of dedication of the temple.

On the left is Euergetes II, wearing the white crown. His right hand is stretched, palm up, towards the god. In his left hand he holds a short stake and a mace, which the king carries to accomplish the rituals of foundation. Here, two scenes are combined, the scene actually represents: the foundation, and the donation of the chapel to the main divinities. The text, of the left-hand border column, is a reminder of the actual ceremony of the foundation, which says: "I seized the stake, I struck with the mace".

Behind Euergetes stands his wife Cleopatra (II), who wears a combined headdress. It consists of two tall feathers, in front of which is one normally associated with the goddess Hathor (and later, one of many symbols of Isis), the sun-disc between the horns of a cow. She holds up her right hand in salutation, whilst in her left she holds an ankh.


In front of the king is the ibis-headed god, seated on his throne and wearing the atef-like crown, holding the was-sceptre and the ankh of life. He is named: "Thoth-setem, great god, who resides in Dja-Mut, majestic Rokhis (a species of ibis), resident in Khmun, who gives laws to all regions, to the four regions of Horus".

	Thoth shares some titles and epithets with the goddess Seshat. They are "Foremost of Heseret," the necropolis in Hermopolis, and together they are the "Lord and Lady of Writing" and "Lord and Lady of Hermopolis". In fact Hermopolis (originally Khmun) and Thoth (Djehuty) are Greeks names. The Greeks also equated Thoth with Hermes. The duo, Thoth/Hermes, is also sighted as the origin of the cadeceus, the emblem of health and healing

Behind him stands Nehemauait, wearing the very decorative sistrum on hear head. She is identified as: "Nehemauait, resident in Dja-Mut, the majestic (goddess), powerful in Khmun". In her lowered left hand she holds the ankh, beneath her raised right arm, which she holds to the shoulder of Thoth, a legend says: "I grant you great homage on behalf of your courtiers" (literally "people of your circle").


The third divinity is again Thoth, ibis-headed like the first, and wearing the lunar-disc on his head; he also holds the was-sceptre and ankh. Here he is identified as: "Thoth, Lord of Khmun, great god, master of the Truth". The rest of the inscription which also related to him, possibly in a ninth vertical column and a horizontal line, is erased completely. Below his right hand, can be read: ""I give you all life and strength, all health, all joy". The border text behind him is now unreadable.

Finally, standing on the ground in front of the king, is a reduced image of the temple. Could this be a small model which Ptolemy shows to Thoth to indicate the final design when completed?