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Around 1000 BCE, an earthquake brought down many temples in Western Thebes, thus putting an end to the cult centre at Deir el-Bahari which had been a key site for the celebration of the Beautiful Feast of the Valley all through the New Kingdom. Within a few dozen years the deserted chapels and rooms of the Hatshepsut temple were turned into a burial ground. The necropolis established on the ruins of one of the most famous temples of Egypt was first excavated in the 19th century; however, current work by the Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology University of Warsaw expedition in the Hathor cult complex of the temple of the female pharaoh has resulted in the discovery of a group of shaft tombs and a great number of burial remains. These new finds have instigated a revisiting of both the topography and the chronology of this reuse of the older monument, as well as a contextualization of the work of the early explorers which has gradually been forgotten partly through lack of proper documentation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Throughout its existence the Temple of Hatshepsut, as well as two other royal sanctuaries, the temples of Mentuhotep II and Thutmose III, located in the great bay of Deir el-Bahari, have been under constant threat of falling rocks from the overhanging Theban cliff. The PCMA UW archaeological expedition at Deir el-Bahari, which has progressed with the study and conservation of the Hatshepsut temple since the 1960s, has implemented a project designed to address the issue of the protection of the temple from damages that could be caused by environmental processes (rainwater and seismic activity) affecting the Theban cliff behind the monument. In a geological survey of the fractured limestone cliff, the evidence from 31 observation stations was appraised and samples of Esna Shale and Theban Limestone were examined in order to ascertain the degree of the cliff’s instability and fragility. The results were used to prepare a 2D model presenting the environmental processes threatening the ancient substance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents the results of archaeological exploration in parts of the Hatshesut Temple, carried out by the Polish–Egyptian team in the 2020/2021 season. Excavations focused on the Southern Room of Amun on the Third Terrace of the Temple, the platform of the Hathor Shrine on the Middle Terrace level, and the so-called Hathor Path located between the southern retaining wall of the Middle Terrace and the northern stone wall of the main enclosure of Mentuhotep II’s mortuary complex. Of particular interest are the finds from an early Middle Kingdom rock-cut tomb in the western part of the Hathor Path, where remains of the original burial assemblage, a large deposit of votive offerings to the goddess Hathor and fragments of a yellow coffin were discovered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]