INFLUENCES

The greatest monument to a woman to survive from all antiquity is Hatshepsut's mortuary temple. Its unique design was influenced by the 11th dynasty temple of Nebhepetre Mentuhotep , the first temple to be built in the great bay of cliffs at Deir el-Bahri in the 19th century BC. The design of his temple-tomb was entirely innovative: a great stepped podium with square-cut pillars around it, and the next terrace with a hypostyle hall at the rear at the base of the cliffs. Hatshepsut's architect Senenmut must have found inspiration in its multi-level construction, when designing and constructing the temple.
The temple of Nebhepetre is much destroyed today due to ancient vandalism and the thousands of tons of falling rubble forming the talus slope from the cliffs above. Most of this has been painstakingly moved from behind Hatshepsut's, revealing the ancient sea shore we have referred to previously.. The talus slope is still there behind Nebhepetre and as a consequence the site is dangerous and is off limits.
Lenka & Wazza, January 28th 2009