Brooklyn Museum and the Precinct of Mut

The Brooklyn Museum Archaeological Expedition to the Precinct of Mut, South Karnak

Entrance to Mut Precinct, M. McKercher, From the collection of: Brooklyn Museum
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"In January 2014 the Mut Precinct finally reopened after being closed to
the public for almost 40 years. The opening was the result of the work of the
Brooklyn Museum’s expedition to the Mut Precinct; the Johns Hopkins
University’s Mut Expedition; and the American
Research Center in Egypt (with a grant from USAID), which laid the paving and
created walkways as well as funding the signage. What follows is a history of
the goddess, the site, and Brooklyn’s work there."

In 1976, the Egyptian Antiquities Organization (now the Ministry of Antiquities and Heritage) granted the Brooklyn Museum permission to begin a systematic exploration of the northern half of the site and its monuments. The expedition has been led from the beginning by Richard Fazzini, now Curator Emeritus of Egyptian art at the Brooklyn Museum. The Detroit Institute of Arts assisted in this work from 1978 to 2001.

Front of the precinct (1977), D. Loggie, From the collection of: Brooklyn Museum
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General view of the front of the Precinct (1977), D. Loggie, From the collection of: Brooklyn Museum
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Since 2001, Brooklyn has shared the site with a team from Johns Hopkins University under the direction of Dr. Betsy Bryan, Alexander Badawy Professor of Egyptology. Although the two teams work independently, they collaborate on projects where appropriate. [http://pages.jh.edu/~egypttoday/egypttoday2.html]

When work began in 1976, most of the site was covered with rolling mounds of earth and debris.

We are grateful to the many senior officials of the Ministry of Antiquities and Heritage over the years who have granted Brooklyn permission to work at the site. We also acknowledge with thanks the cooperation and assistance of the Luxor office of the Supreme Council of Antiquities and the many SCA inspectors with whom we have worked over the years.

Temple A Forecourt (1977), D. Loggie, From the collection of: Brooklyn Museum
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"Introduction"

"Who was Mut?"

The site’s largest Sakhmet Statue, J. van Dijk, From the collection of: Brooklyn Museum
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"“Mistress of peace and of the war cry. Lady of heaven, queen of the gods – Great Mut. Creator. Protector. Lady of joy. Cobra of dread. The vigilant mistress of Karnak. Mighty ruler in her Theban Temple. She whose spirit exists because her temple endures. She whose temple and city will exist for millions of years.”"

Above are excerpts from a stela whose inscription is a hymn in praise of Mut (pronounced “Moot”). She was the consort of Amun, one of Egypt’s most important gods, and the mother of the moon-god, Khonsu. In her human guise she bore & preserved Egypt’s kingship and, therefore, the king himself. In the form of lioness-headed Sakhmet (“The Powerful”) Mut was the fierce protector of Egypt, bringing defeat and death to its enemies. She could threaten Egypt, too, if the proper rituals were not performed to turn her into a gentle cat.

Mut relief in Ptolemaic Chapel, M. McKercher, From the collection of: Brooklyn Museum
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Mut and Sakhmet, along with Isis, Hathor, Bastet, and others, belonged to a group of goddesses known as the “Eye of Re,” who could be both gentle cats and fierce lionesses. Perched on the sun-god’s forehead, they could be sent to do the god’s bidding as he willed. The cults of Eye of Re goddesses became vital to Egyptian life and rule. As Mut was both the consort of Amun and an Eye of Re, her temple precinct in Thebes was an important religious center for almost 2000 years. Yet, until Brooklyn began its work there, the site had been only partially explored.



The rituals to placate Mut and Sakhmet and keep them contented and entertained involved singing, dancing, feasting, and drinking. This scene in the precinct’s entrance (the Propylon) shows a Ptolemaic king and two priestesses playing music before the goddesses.

Ptolemaic king & priestesses playing music to Mut & Sakhmet, M. McKercher, From the collection of: Brooklyn Museum
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"The Mut Precinct"

The Mut Precinct lies about 100 yards south of Amun’s temple at Karnak to which it is oriented. An avenue of sphinxes connects the two temple complexes. Its massive enclosure walls surround an area of approximately 20 acres. The site’s main features are the Mut Temple, surrounded on three sides by a sacred lake called the Isheru that is specific to Eye of Re goddesses; a large temple in the northeast corner, referred to as Temple A because its ancient name for most of its history is unknown; a ruined building on a rise, east of the Mut Temple, referred to as Chapel B; a temple of Ramesses III southwest of the Mut Temple; a gateway built by King Taharqa of Dynasty 25; and a number of smaller chapels.

Aerial view to the south of the Mut Precinct, J. van Rensselaer IV, From the collection of: Brooklyn Museum
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Photograph: J. van Rensselaer IV

It was probably under Dynasty 30 (381-343 B.C.E.) or the earliest Ptolemaic kings that the Precinct achieved its present size and its distinctive trapezoidal shape. The site as it now exists includes not only the buildings described, but a large area to the south of the Isheru, which is still largely unexplored.

E wing of the Propylon (Precinct entrance), M. McKercher, From the collection of: Brooklyn Museum
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The Propylon is the name given to the massive stone gateway that guards the entrance to the precinct. It is inscribed for Ptolemy II (285-246 B.C.E.) and Ptolemy VI (170-163 B.C.E., 145-116 B.C.E.). Like the gate in the Mut Temple’s first pylon, it contains scenes and texts relating to the cult of the goddess.

W wing of the Propylon (Precinct entrance), M. McKercher, From the collection of: Brooklyn Museum
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Relief of Mut Precinct in Tomb of Khabekhenet, Deir el-Medinah (Theban Tomb 2), D. Loggie, From the collection of: Brooklyn Museum
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Photograph: D. Loggie

The earliest representation of the precinct is a relief in the tomb of Khabekhenet at Deir el-Medineh (Theban Tomb 2), from the time of Ramesses II (circa 1279-1213 B.C.E.), complete with an avenue of sphinxes leading to the temple, two colossal statues in front of the temple, a separate pylon gateway, and the crescent-shaped sacred lake on which the barque of Mut sails from the west side (bottom) to the east. The details of the relief have been outlined and highlighted to make them easier to see.

19th century photograph of the Mut Temple’s 2nd Court and Sakhmets, Henri Béchard, From the collection of: Brooklyn Museum
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The site has long been famous for its statues of Sakhmet. Today many are housed in museums around the world, including the Brooklyn Museum. In the nineteenth century, the Sakhmets were what attracted the few photographers to visit the site. This photograph of the Mut Temple’s 1st court (above) was taken by French photographer Henri Béchard sometime between 1869 and the 1880s.

"Early Exploration"

Napoleonic Expedition map of Mut Precinct, From the collection of: Brooklyn Museum
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Napoleonic Expedition drawing of a colossal statue in front of Temple A, From the collection of: Brooklyn Museum
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Napoleon took scientists as well as soldiers with him when he invaded Egypt in 1798. The “Description de l’Egypte” (1822) produced by the scientists was the first to include a detailed scientific plan of the Mut Precinct (top left image). The Mut Temple and the Isheru, the temple of Ramesses III (lower right on plan), and traces of Temple A (upper left on plan) are all visible. The fallen colossal statue (bottom left image) still lies in front of Temple A.

A Mariette’s 1875 plan of the Mut Precinct, From the collection of: Brooklyn Museum
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A few other explorers visited the site, including the Royal Prussian Expedition of 1842-45 led by Carl Richard Lepsius. The Lepsius map was the basis for the plan produced by Auguste Mariette, first Director of Antiquities in Egypt, in his 1875 book on Karnak.

His book also included copies of important inscriptions, among them the ones in the Mut Temple’s Montuemhat Crypt (also called the Taharqa Crypt). Oddly enough, the texts on these plates are reversed. This image of the rear wall of the crypt comes from a copy of Mariette’s book owned by early American Egyptologist Charles Edwin Wilbour and shows his annotations and corrections.  Wilbour’s collection of books formed the core of the Brooklyn Museum’s Wilbour Library of Egyptology, one of the finest Egyptological research libraries in the world.

Rear wall of Montuemhat Crypt drawn by A. Mariette, From the collection of: Brooklyn Museum
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Margaret Benson & Janet Gourlay, unknown, From the collection of: Brooklyn Museum
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The first official excavations at the Mut Precinct were undertaken in 1895-1897 by two British women, Margaret Benson and Janet Gourlay, the first women to direct excavations in Egypt.  Little is known of Janet, but Margaret was the daughter of the Archbishop of Canterbury and was considered brilliant by her contemporaries. As a woman in Victorian England, however, she could not pursue a college degree. They were nonetheless able to call on the expertise of the leading scholars in the field and their book “The Temple of Mut in Asher” is on a par with other reports of their time.

Benson & Gourlay supervising work (Pl. 5 from their book), From the collection of: Brooklyn Museum
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Benson and Gourlay on site

Re-erecting 2 colossal statues in front of Ramesses III Temple (1921), M. Pillet, From the collection of: Brooklyn Museum
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Photograph: Collection M. Pillet, CNRS-MOM, année 1921, inv. B134-10

The next major work at the site took place in the 1920s under Maurice Pillet, Director of the Egyptian Antiquities Organization, who cleared and mapped Temple A and the temple of Ramesses III (circa 1187-1156 B.C.E.). In the photograph to the right, the fallen statue in the background is the one shown in the previous Napoleonic drawing.  Pillet uncovered a second colossal statue of Amunhotep III (circa 1390-1352 B.C.E.) that had been usurped by Ramesses II (circa 1279-1213 B.C.E.) and a large alabaster stela carved from a block of a shrine of Amunhotep II (circa1426-1400 B.C.E.). It describes Ramesses’ marriage to a Hittite princess.



In addition to excavating the Ramesses III temple, Pillet re-erected the two colossal statues of that king in front of the temple.

Discovery of Hittite Marriage Stela and colossal statue in front of Temple A (1921), M. Pillet, From the collection of: Brooklyn Museum
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Photograph: Collection M. Pillet, CNRS-MOM, année 1921, inv. B137-10 

"The Brooklyn Museum
Mut Expedition"

Reis Farouk Sharid Mohamed, M. McKercher, From the collection of: Brooklyn Museum
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Farouk Sharid Mohamed

While the Brooklyn Mut Expedition is made up of scholars from the United States, The Netherlands, and France, the Egyptians who do most of the actual excavation are the backbone of the expedition. Without their hard work (and it is hard work in the heat and dust of Luxor) and dedication, little would be accomplished. This is true for everyone from the unskilled laborers to the technicians (the Qufti, from the village of Quft), stone masons, conservators, and inspectors.





From 1976 to his death in 2014 the Mut Expedition’s “rais” (foreman) was Farouk Sharid Mohamed. His knowledge of the techniques of archaeology, his patience in dealing with foreigners whose grasp of Arabic was often limited, and his passionate interest in Egypt’s ancient heritage made him very special. Everyone who has ever worked with Rais Farouk will miss him.

"The Early Mut Precinct"

Remains of limestone Hatshepsut chapel in the Mut Temple, M. McKercher, From the collection of: Brooklyn Museum
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There may have been a temple to Mut here as early as the Middle Kingdom (circa 2008-1630 B.C.E.), and the Johns Hopkins expedition has discovered what may be the foundations of a late-2nd Intermediate Period or early-New Kingdom temple that had been covered by later construction. The earliest standing remains date to the reigns of Hatshepsut (circa 1478-1458 B.C.E.) and her co-regent and successor Thutmosis III (circa 1479-1425 B.C.E.).

Among the limestone chips in a hole beside the remains of a small limestone chapel in the oldest part of the temple, the Brooklyn expedition uncovered a fragment of a cartouche containing part of Hatshepsut’s name erased and replaced with the name of Thutmosis III.

Fragment of Hatshepsut cartouche recarved for Thutmosis III, M. McKercher, From the collection of: Brooklyn Museum
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Thutmosis III gate in W wall of New Kingdom Precinct, M. McKercher, From the collection of: Brooklyn Museum
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The relief in Khabakhenet’s tomb suggests that the New Kingdom Mut Precinct probably consisted of no more than the Mut Temple itself and the Isheru. In 1983, the Brooklyn expedition discovered a gateway shown in nineteenth century maps but no longer visible. The photo above shows the gate’s west face, inscribed for Thutmosis III and Thutmosis II (possibly replacing an original Hatshepsut cartouche).  On the south reveal, where it would have been hidden by the open door, was the faint trace of a graffito of Senenmut, a powerful official under Hatshepsut. The rectangular cut-outs held blocks used to repair Amarna Period erasures of the name of Amun, and the gate also has a renewal inscription by Seti I (circa 1290-1279 B.C.E.) of Dynasty 19. The gate was set into what was the west wall of the New Kingdom Mut precinct.

We were able to trace the wall to its northwest corner, where it turns and runs on a line with the first pylon of the Mut Temple, confirming that, indeed, New Kingdom Mut was much smaller than it is today.

"Temple A"

Temple A in relation to the New Kingdom Mut Precinct, J. van Rensselaer IV, From the collection of: Brooklyn Museum
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Temple A may have been first built by Amunhotep III, although no trace of his building remains. It stood outside the Mut Precinct (known as “per-Mut” or “per-Isheru,” the House of Mut or House of Isheru) in a separate place called Ipet.

Temple A Forecourt (2007), M. McKercher, From the collection of: Brooklyn Museum
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Ramesses II renovated and expanded the temple, which was now a “temple of millions of years” dedicated to the king and to Amun-Re. He added a new forecourt with a colonnade and a mud brick pylon. The two colossal statues and the Hittite Marriage Stela found by Maurice Pillet stood in front of this pylon. Rather than commissioning new statues, Ramesses simply replaced their original owner’s name with his own on existing statues. The head of the larger statue is in the British Museum and is clearly that of Amunhotep III. This kind of recycling was not uncommon in ancient Egypt, but Ramesses II was a particularly notable usurper of his predecessors’ monuments.

Amunhotep II relief on bottom of Ramesses II stela, M. McKercher, From the collection of: Brooklyn Museum
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In 1979, the Brooklyn expedition discovered a second monumental alabaster stela to the south of the smaller colossal statue. This stela records Ramesses’ work on a temple, most likely Temple A before which it stood. The stela was carved on a block from the same Amunhotep II shrine as the Hittite Marriage Stela (visible in the background) and both preserve wonderful reliefs of that king on what became the bases of the stelae. The images to the left and right are two examples.

Ramesses II stela (foreground) found in 1979, M. McKercher, From the collection of: Brooklyn Museum
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Amunhotep II relief on bottom of Ramesses II stela, M. McKercher, From the collection of: Brooklyn Museum
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Amunhotep II chapel rebuilt in Karnak Open Air Museum, M. McKercher, From the collection of: Brooklyn Museum
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In 2003, the Centre Franco-Egyptien d’Etude des Temples de Karnak removed both stelae from the Mut Precinct when they rebuilt the Amunhotep II shrine in Karnak’s Open Air Museum.

Temple A did not become part of the Mut Precinct until the reign of Taharqa (690-664 B.C.E.) of the Kushite Dynasty 25. By this time it had become a mammisi or “birth house” where the birth of Mut’s and Amun’s divine child, Khonsu, was celebrated. A Ptolemaic relief of Mut, her divine child, and other gods on the rear wall of the central sanctuary shows that the temple remained a mammisi through the Ptolemaic Period and probably until the end of its history as a religious monument.

Birth scene of Khonsu in central sanctuary of Temple A, M. McKercher, From the collection of: Brooklyn Museum
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Circumcision of Taharqa (left) and his royal ka on N wall of Temple A’s 1st Court, M. McKercher, From the collection of: Brooklyn Museum
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Because Taharqa claimed to be a direct son of Amun, he had reliefs depicting his divine conception and birth carved onto the north wall of the temple’s first court. The most famous scene shows Taharqa and his royal “ka” (spirit/soul) being circumcised.

Taharqa birth scene on N wall of Temple A’s 1st Court, M. McKercher, From the collection of: Brooklyn Museum
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2nd Pylon of Temple A with re-used colossi from Ramesses III Temple, M. McKercher, From the collection of: Brooklyn Museum
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Taharqa also built (or rebuilt) Temple A’s second pylon, whose north wing has a mud brick core with a sandstone facing. As the Brooklyn expedition discovered, the facing and the south wing (which seems to be solid stone) were constructed, in part, of stone quarried from Ramesses III’s temple, which was no longer in use. The blocks include the feet, torsos and heads of colossal statues that once stood in the court of that temple.

Foundations of Nitocris Chapelin Temple A, M. McKercher, From the collection of: Brooklyn Museum
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In the southeast corner of the first court, the expedition uncovered the foundations of a small limestone chapel. Lying nearby was the chapel’s lintel depicting Nitocris, a God’s Wife of Amun of Dynasty 26. The God’s Wife was normally the daughter or sister of a king, and by the eighth century B.C.E. wielded considerable political power. These priestesses could even be shown performing rituals (e.g., offering to the gods) formerly reserved for the king alone.  While there are several chapels to God’s Wives in the Amun Precinct and at Medinet Habu, it is most unusual for one to have a chapel actually inside a major temple.

Lintel from Nitocris Chapel, M. McKercher, From the collection of: Brooklyn Museum
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Lintel from Nitocris Chapel

Temple A presented one final surprise. Leaning against the face of the enclosure wall on the north side of the forecourt, we found a gilded and painted lintel from a chapel to Khonsu-the-Child, the form of Khonsu worshipped in the mammisi. The chapel itself has completely disappeared, although we did find traces of foundations that may belong to it.

Lintel in situ against N wall of Temple A Forecourt, M. McKercher, From the collection of: Brooklyn Museum
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Lintel found in Temple A, M. McKercher, From the collection of: Brooklyn Museum
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Lintel found in Temple A

"The Mut Temple"

Rear of Thutmoside Mut Temple platform with beveled edges & architects’ scribed lines, M. McKercher, From the collection of: Brooklyn Museum
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In 1985, the Brooklyn expedition discovered  the original Hatshepsut/Thutmosis III temple platform, which was three courses deep and had very neatly beveled edges. The outline of the components of that temple had been carefully chipped into the platform’s surface by the builders, so we have some idea of what stood on the platform. The temple was enlarged, probably by Thutmosis III, and the Johns Hopkins expedition discovered a dismantled “Porch of Drunkenness” built by Hatshepsut whose columns were reused in the foundations of this new, larger temple. Although nothing remains of his work, it is likely that Amunhotep III was responsible for a further enlargement in the New Kingdom.

Ramesses II added a stone facing with reliefs and inscriptions to the south side of the temple’s second pylon, and later Ramesside kings also left their names in the complex.

Sakhmet statues on E side of Mut Temple’s 1st Court, M. McKercher, From the collection of: Brooklyn Museum
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There were perhaps as many as 730 Sakhmet statues at one time: two for each day of the year. They formed a “litany in stone” as one scholar called it, guaranteeing that the rituals to keep Sakhmet appeased would continue even if there were no longer priests to perform the rites. While many of the Sakhmets are inscribed for Amunhotep III, they probably did not come to the Mut Precinct until Dynasty 19, when the link between Mut and Sakhmet became more important. Many scholars today believe that the statues originally stood in Amunhotep III’s funerary temple on the west bank of the Nile, where more continue to be discovered.

Sakhmet statues on N side of Mut Temple’s 1st Court, M. McKercher, From the collection of: Brooklyn Museum
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Montuemhat Crypt built into E wall of the Mut Temple’s 2nd Court, M. McKercher, From the collection of: Brooklyn Museum
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Under King Taharqa of Dynasty 25, Montuemhat, 4th Prophet of Amun, Mayor of Thebes and Governor of Upper Egypt, directed extensive work within the Mut Temple and elsewhere in the site. In fact, most of the temple was rebuilt using blocks from the earlier temple as building material for the expansion. As a demonstration of the extent of his power, Montuemhat included a small chapel to himself within the east wall of the temple’s second court that describes work he carried out in the Mut Precinct. It is known as the Montuemhat Crypt (or the Taharqa Crypt). Private individuals, no matter how powerful, were not usually commemorated this way.

Montuemhat Crypt, M. McKercher, From the collection of: Brooklyn Museum
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Montuemhat Crypt

In the ruins of the Mut Temple’s small hypostyle hall, the Brooklyn expedition discovered parts of a 25th dynasty dyad of Amun and Mut. The god’s head was found by Benson and Gourlay in the 1890s, several feet away from where Brooklyn found the goddess’s face and the legs and feet of the god. The face is one of the most beautiful finds the expedition  has made.

Head of Amun from 25th Dynasty statue of Mut & Amun, M. McKercher, From the collection of: Brooklyn Museum
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Amun head

Face of Mut from 25th Dynasty statue of Mut & Amun, M. McKercher, From the collection of: Brooklyn Museum
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Mut face

Montuemhat also built a small temple abutting the rear wall of the Mut Temple, called a Contra-Temple. What is left of its inscriptions duplicates some of the biographical texts from the Montuemhat Crypt. The entrance bears an inscription by Nectanebo I (381-362 B.C.E.), and the facade and a doorway between two rooms were decorated in the Ptolemaic Period, probably by Ptolemy VIII (170-163 B.C.E., 145-116 B.C.E.).

Contra Temple façade, M. McKercher, From the collection of: Brooklyn Museum
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Contra-Temple

Dynasty 25 porches in front of Mut Temple’s 1st Pylon, J. van Rensselaer IV, From the collection of: Brooklyn Museum
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In his crypt, Montuemhat says that he added a 24-column colonnade to the front of the Temple. When Brooklyn began work, only the tops of two columns on each side of the entrance were visible and they were clearly Ptolemaic in date.

When the Brooklyn team excavated the area north of the gate, it uncovered two porches of 12 columns each, just as Montuemhat had said. While the Ptolemies had rebuilt the southern end of the porches, they seem to have been content simply to repair the rest of the columns.







Two important finds were made in the porches.

Hwt-ka chapel of Nesptah, M. McKercher, From the collection of: Brooklyn Museum
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Hwt-ka

Built into the mud brick pylon at the south end of the West Porch was a small chapel called a “Hwt-ka,” dedicated to the “ka” (spirit/soul) of Montuemhat’s son, Nesptah. Only the lower two courses of the south wall were still in situ, but the team found other blocks from the chapel in the same area. Like the Nitocris chapel in Temple A and the Montuemhat Crypt, Nesptah’s chapel is another rare example of a chapel for a private person in a major temple.

Ram of Taharqa, M. McKercher, From the collection of: Brooklyn Museum
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In 1979, at the north end of the East Porch, the expedition found a large granite head of a ram with a king below his chin, along with fragments of the king’s body (left). The rest of statue was only a shapeless lump of granite. Stylistically the sculpture dates to the reign of Taharqa. A second ram was found in 2001 at the north end of the West Porch. While headless, Taharqa’s name is preserved on the base, confirming the date of the sculpture found in 1979. The Ptolemies seem to have left this pair of Kushite criosphinxes in place when they rebuilt the porches hundreds of years later. While there are many such sculptures of Taharqa in the Sudan, the ones at Mut are rare examples of such sculptures in Egypt itself.

Base of ram with Taharqa’s cartouche found at N end of Mut Temple’s W Porch, M. McKercher, From the collection of: Brooklyn Museum
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In front of the west tower of the first pylon are seven large criosphinxes. The expedition found no evidence for such sculptures in front of the east tower. Instead, we uncovered a series of vaulted rooms built against the pylon’s face and other structures occupying the area between the Temple A’s pylon and the Mut Temple’s East Porch. Coin evidence suggests that the earliest phases of these structures date to the Ptolemaic Period while the latest coin found dates to the reign of the Roman Emperor Antoninus Pius (138-161 C.E.).

Vaulted rooms built against N face of E wing of Mut Temple’s 1st Pylon, M. McKercher, From the collection of: Brooklyn Museum
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E wing of gate in the Mut Temple’s 1st Pylon, M. McKercher, From the collection of: Brooklyn Museum
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East Mut gate

The present entrance to the Mut Temple is through a massive stone gateway set into a mud brick pylon. In the New Kingdom, however, the entrance was probably a smaller gate set into the mud brick enclosure wall.



The walls of the gateway still bear Ramesside reliefs and inscriptions, but these were recarved in the Ptolemaic Period when Ptolemy VI (180-164 B.C.E., 163-145 B.C.E.) remodeled and enlarged the gateway. Ptolemy XII (father of the famous Cleopatra) may have been responsible for the large Bes figures as his name is carved nearby and we found more relief fragments with his titles during excavations in this area. The Ptolemaic inscriptions on the gateway are important for the study of the goddess and her cult. They were published in 2015 by the Brooklyn Expedition. Ptolemy VI also built a small chapel in the second court of the temple.

W wing of gate in the Mut Temple’s 1st Pylon, M. McKercher, From the collection of: Brooklyn Museum
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West Mut gate

"The northwest
quadrant: Taharqa Gate and Ptolemaic Chapel"

NW quadrant of the precinct in 1977, D. Loggie, From the collection of: Brooklyn Museum
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Northwest quadrant of the precinct, 1977

When Brooklyn began work in 1976, only a few small walls and some scattered blocks were visible in the northwest quadrant of the precinct.

C.E. Wilbour’s 1886 sketch of the W facade of the Ptolemaic chapel, and the actual wall in 2009, Photo: M. McKercher Drawing: C.E. Wilbour, From the collection of: Brooklyn Museum
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When Charles Edwin Wilbour visited the site in the mid-1880s, he copied the inscriptions on these walls; his copies are preserved in his notebooks in the Museum’s Wilbour Library of Egyptology. As you can see, by the 1970s, the upper part of one of the walls had disappeared, so Wilbour’s notes are the only record of the inscriptions. Wilbour also annotated the publications of other Egyptologists of his day, sometimes correcting their mistakes. Wilbour’s notebooks and the books he owned remain a valuable resource today.

Excavating the Ptolemaic chapel, D. Loggie, From the collection of: Brooklyn Museum
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Ptolemaic chapel before restoration

The walls belong to a small chapel built by Ptolemy VI and Ptolemy VIII. Because its walls were in poor shape, the Brooklyn team dismantled the whole building and rebuilt it from the ground up.

Ptolemaic chapel after restoration, M. McKercher, From the collection of: Brooklyn Museum