The Enchanted Resting Place: The Crimson Sanctuary of Queen Hatshepsut

Once upon a time, in a land of deserts and pharaohs, there lived a queendom's queen, Hatshepsut, the fifth ruler of the 18th Dynasty that reigned from the year 1479 to 1458 BC. In a secluded hill, her namesake sanctuary, the Crimson Sanctuary, remains untouched by the passing ages, harboring the unresolved duty of a royal tomb. Though never fully decorated, this task was continued by her successors, Thutmose III, her spouse, and Amenhotep II, Amenhotep III.

They added details, resolving unfinished work. The Crimson Sanctuary was constructed during the reign of Hatshepsut, standing as part of a small sandstone cult shrine collection called the Hatshepsut Suite. The queen, in her pious acts, offered to various deities inside the sanctuary of Amun-Ra. With its placement directly before a mud-brick and limestone temple, the sanctuary welcomes two rooms, a vestibule, and a sanctuary, both open to the skies.

Its lower section is built of black diorite, while its upper part is of red quartzite, earning it its name. The chapel's foundation is also built of black diorite. At the center of the chapel's courtyard dwells a basin. Two rectangular stone slabs mark places where statues or barques might have once been placed, centering the inner court. The purpose of the chapel was to shelter the Userhat-Amun, the barque that conveyed the deity Amun on festive days.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons