In the New Kingdom (about 1550 to 1070 BC), Egypt was an empire, and its kings poured their wealth into temples. They were buried in hidden rock-cut tombs in the Valley of the Kings, across the Nile from Thebes (modern Luxor), and built separate temples for their worship.
Looking closely: Hatshepsut's temple. Hatshepsut was a woman who ruled as king. Her temple rises in three broad terraces, linked by ramps, against a wall of cliffs. Long rows of square pillars make shadowed colonnades, and the horizontal lines answer the layers of the rock behind. Her steward Senenmut is traditionally credited with the design. The building fits its setting so well that it seems to grow out of the mountain.
Looking closely: The hall at Karnak. A hypostyle hall is one whose roof rests on many columns. At Karnak, begun by Seti I and finished by Ramesses II, 134 columns stand in rows, the tallest down the center, carved like bundles of papyrus. Walking in once felt like walking through a stone marsh in near-darkness, lit only from high windows. Every surface was carved and painted.
Key idea
Why it works
Looking closely: Nefertiti. Queen Nefertiti, Akhenaten's wife, wears a tall blue crown. Her long neck, fine features and smooth, even color make her look calm and perfect. One eye is inlaid with rock crystal; the other has no inlay, perhaps never added, which fits the idea that this was a model kept in the workshop of the sculptor Thutmose, where German archaeologists found it in 1912. It has been in Berlin since soon after, and today it is in the Neues Museum.
Worked example: Why so famous?
- Almost every royal tomb in the Valley of the Kings was robbed in ancient times.
- His small tomb was found in 1922 by Howard Carter's team, nearly intact, with over 5,000 objects.
- His solid gold mask, more than 10 kilograms, shows what a royal burial held.
Answer: Because his tomb survived nearly intact, not because of his reign.
Common mistake