The
shaft and subsequent tunnel descend for
150 m and end in a burial chamber 45 m
below the court. The chamber held a shrine,
which once held the wooden coffin of Mentuhotep
II. The focal point of this complex is
the Djeser-Djeseru meaning the Sublime
of Sublimes, a colonnaded structure, which
was designed and implemented by Senemut,
royal stewart of Hatshepsut, to serve
for her posthumous worship. Djeser-Djeseru
sits atop a series of terraces that once
were graced with gardens and is built
into a cliff face that rises sharply above
it. Maatkare Hatshepsut or Hatchepsut
(late 16th century BC – c. 1482
BC) was the fifth Pharaoh of the Eighteenth
dynasty of Ancient Egypt. Hatshepsut is
generally regarded by modern Egyptologists
as one of the most successful pharaohs,
ruling longer than any indigenous female
ruler of Egypt. She was one of the most
prolific builders of Ancient Egypt, commissioning
hundreds of construction projects throughout
both Upper and Lower Egypt and under her
reign.
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