Sunday, March 11, 2018

When You Get Haunted by Hatshepsut’s Spirit (1)

Beneath the cliffs at Deir El-Bahari on the west bank of the Nile near the Valley of the Kings in Egypt lies The Mortuary Temple of Queen Hatshepsut. This mortuary temple is dedicated to the god of sun, Amon-Ra. It has served both as an inspiration and later, as a quarry. It is considered one of the "incomparable monuments of ancient Egypt."That temple was the main resource that incited me to think of getting into meditation sessions.
I arrived at the Temple for the first time in 1991 uncertain what to expect, but full of curiosity and anticipation. I knew the Temple of Hatshepsut only by its reputation when it had become celebrated as one of the greatest temples belonging to the 18th dynasty. My image was of a place where people shed their inner impurities, shucked their concerns, allowed their most patent feelings to surface and expressed them with blunt directness to hell with any consequences. That Temple, in my mind, was a place of intense encounters, dramatic emotional breakthroughs and open spiritual experimentation. I simply was not yet aware that it had also served as a useful clearinghouse, launching pad and initial meeting place for an extraordinary array of pioneering thinkers and practitioners who together began to develop a unique approach to the pursuit of wisdom.
No sooner did I turn onto its grounds than I understood a key aspect of Hatshepsut Temple enduring allure. It consists of three imposing terraces.  On the southern end of the first colonnade, there were some scenes, among them the famous scene of the transportation of Hatshepsut’s two obelisks, while on the north side of that colonnade, there was a spectacular scene that represents the Queen offering four calves to Amon Ra. The second terrace was accessed by a ramp; originally it would have had stairs. The famous Punt relief was engraved on the southern side of the second colonnade. The journey to Punt (now is called Somalia) was the first pictorial documentation of a trade expedition that was recorded and was discovered in Ancient Egypt. While I was walking towards the airy and rustic northern side of the second colonnade, I felt an immediate buzz, but also a sense of great chill at the moment of seeing a fascinating scene depicting the divine birth of Hatshepsut. The Queen claimed that she was the divine daughter of Amon Ra to legitimise her rule.

Still, if the Temple was once seen as the apotheosis of me, civilization’s narcissism, I would have this feeling beyond the colonnade at the North are the chapel of Anubis, God of mummification and the keeper of the necropolis. I was drawn not just by the particular scenes or the practices I was exploring, but by the prospect of being contained by this shrine who are genuinely committed to make civilization. After living few hours while being enchanted by these beautiful surroundings, I invariably went to the third terrace that was also accessed by a ramp. It consisted of two rows of columns, the front ones taking the Osirid form (a mummy form).How then, I wondered, was I to reconcile these very different visions in my own search for wisdom?   



















No comments:

Post a Comment