25th June 2015
38c
Ramesside Temple Site (Unknown) - Asasif/Qurna
38c
Ramesside Temple Site (Unknown) - Asasif/Qurna
By the roadside and on a bend between the Ramesseum and the road that leads to the Hatshepsut Temple at Deir el-Bahari is this small temple site. Most people pass it and don’t realize it is there. A wire fence around the site identifies it. I personally have passed it many hundreds of times.
Geographically, it is south and slightly west of the Hatshepsut Causeway. The nearby locals who’s grandfathers worked for Howard Carter seem to know very little about the site, only that it was once worked on by the SCA. I am told that back in antiquity times, thieves took most of the nice pieces of colored carved stones and whatever was found there.
Very little remains to this day but there are still a few stone blocks to be seen with hieroglyphs and maybe what’s left of some cartouches but not enough to identify them. There are six column bases but with no columns to be seen around the site. There are several rooms that can be seen by the layout of the stone blocks.
I think the site has been well looted by everyone around and over many years, either taking the stones for illicit dealers or reuse in future building.
I am pleased to have taken the time to do a survey of this small site. It is yet another part of the West bank I have got to know. This is my record of what is left.
A beautiful examples of the ankh and wass sceptre. The ankh, user and viper may represent ‘All life and Strength/Power to Him’ but this is difficult to be sure of as it may be out of context. The sceptre means Dominion. The little viper in the picture is a pronoun for he or him depending in which context it is being used.
Several blocks indicate a Ramesses II or V. I would suggest a later Ramesses, V or later even, as the end of the cartouche shows ‘mes s sw. The latter sw comes in about Ramesses V’s time. It also has a picture of the Horus god as apposed to the Maat goddess of earlier Ramesses.
It might even have been initiated by Ramesses IV and usurped by Ramesses V and VI.
Of course, as with all Ramesses they used many different variations in their cartouches.
It might even have been initiated by Ramesses IV and usurped by Ramesses V and VI.
Of course, as with all Ramesses they used many different variations in their cartouches.
This relief depicts a hawk with a face above it. This again is the god Horus and could be saying ‘Upon the throne of Horus’. Not everything is there so this again is speculative but it is only missing the hieroglyph for throne. This would tie in with the cartouche above.
It is the god Horus in the cartouche. As you will see, the seated god is to the left. This indicates to me Ramesses V.