Temple of Hatshepsut

Hatshepsut built her mortuary temple in the fifteenth century BC against the cliff at Deir el-Bahari, and the design answers the setting directly: three colonnaded terraces linked by ramps, horizontal lines set against a vertical wall of rock several hundred metres high. Her architect Senenmut placed it beside an older Eleventh Dynasty temple and borrowed its terraced idea. The colonnades carry two famous relief cycles, one showing the trading expedition she sent to Punt with its ships, houses on stilts and the Puntite queen, and the other her divine birth, a justification of her right to rule. Thutmose III later had her images and names cut out in many places. A Hathor chapel with columns carrying the goddess's head stands at the southern end.

What's there

• Three colonnaded terraces - horizontal architecture against a vertical cliff.
• The Punt expedition reliefs - ships, stilt houses and the Puntite queen.
• The divine birth cycle - Hatshepsut's claim to the throne in relief.
• The Hathor chapel - columns topped with the goddess's head.

When to go

October to April. Very early morning, both for light on the terraces and because the temple faces east and becomes an oven by mid-morning. Two hours. It is one of the busiest west bank sites.

Good to know

There is almost no shade and the terraces reflect heat badly; go early. Crowds are heavy from mid-morning. Much of the upper terrace has been reconstructed and the extent of that is not always made clear. A shuttle runs from the car park and is charged separately.

Nearby

The Valley of the Kings is over the cliff; the Ramesseum and Colossi lie east.

Key facts