Let's discover Hatshepsut's temple together

As a tourist, you don't generally come to Egypt for its heat, its wildlife or its beaches. You come to be in contact with thousand-year-old temples imbued with an almost magical aura, to touch with your eyes the abundance of liturgical scenes engraved in stone, and cabalistic symbols that are both beautiful and fascinating, to tread the same ground as the pharaohs and Roman emperors who came, conquerors, to this place, long before our era began.

That's why you'll probably want to come early in the morning from Luxor in the middle of the desert. For this reason, and it's even truer here than for the temples of Amun and Karnak, plan to come early, before the heat becomes downright disabling. There are no trees here, no buildings to shelter under, no canopied refreshment stands, no drinks dispensers, no shade, just this formidable temple at the end of a phenomenally large esplanade that you'll have to cover on foot.

As the crow flies, Deir el-Bahari is not very far from Luxor - less than ten kilometres - but it is on the other bank of the Nile, the west bank. You'll have to take a car or minibus over the Luxor Bridge, which means a considerable diversions, for a journey of around thirty kilometres. It will take at least 45 minutes. Count on more with a minibus, as it is bound to stop en route to take on new passengers or let some off.

If you're on a tour, you're likely to make a stop at the Colossi of Memnon, which are right on the road. 500 m further down the road, the Antiquities Inspectorate Ticket Office will allow you to buy your ticket or, better still, your pass. Note that a number of hotels have sprung up right here in recent years, ideal locations if you also want to visit the nearby Valley of the Kings.

You will then cross the Valley of the Nobles and pass by the tomb of Harouah (his pet name: TT37) at El-Assasif. As you can see, the entire Luxor region is dotted with sites, tombs and temples inherited fromAncient Egypt. It is the richest region in the country.

You are now on the site of Hatshepsut's funerary temple, surrounded by a long rectangular enclosure. Once you have passed through, you will be impressed by the astonishingly modern architectureof this temple, which you can see in the distance. The distance to the temple is around 250 metres. You will have to walk about 140 m to reach the first terrace, which is reached and then passed by a long, gentle ramp heading north-west.

At the far end, a stone portico. You just have to take the time to imagine what the erosion of past centuries has taken away from the place: pools of water lilies and papyrus, tamarisk, hibiscus and sycamore gardens, red ibises and egrets, statues of kings and pharaohs.

The temple is quite simply immense, and the spirit of excess that animated the all-powerful queen in direct contact with the Olympus of her celestial divinities is perfectly perceptible. This temple is hers, and it will be the place where she chooses to set out her battles, her victories, her ascension and the story of her life, her transition to this world beyond.

Now is the time to move towards the temple and, if you have a guide with you, ask him or her to show you the hunting portico. This is a large bas-relief in which Queen Hatshepsut, as a Sphinx, tramples on the mass of her enemies. And where, in her human form, she has the obelisks of the Temple of Amun built and picks papyrus in this paradise of flowers and ibises, allegories of the souls of which she is the guardian. For she is the Queen Pharaoh. This first floor is reserved for the story of her life.

This huge, long, fully paved terrace serves a portico lined with columns. The hieroglyphs on display here are dedicated to Hatshepsut's father, Thutmosis I. They tell us how the god Amun-Ra integrated his body and united him with his mother. They tell us how the god Amun-Ra integrated his body and united with his mother. Hatshepsut was the child of this triangular union.

Other bas-reliefs depict the journey to the land of Punt (in other words, Somalia) by the queen's emissaries, who brought back a lion and a giraffe, as well as gold, ivory and ebony.

A staircase higher up are the chapels dedicated to the goddess Hathor, with so-called "hatoric" columns.

You are at the top of the temple. Here, an impressive row of granite statues all represent Hatshepsut, wearing the pschent, the double crown of the pharaohs.

Behind these statues, if you're looking for it, you'll find access to a large courtyard on the mountainside, leading to three doors. The north door leads to an altar. The southern gate leads to the sanctuary of the queen, while the western gate leads to the sanctuary of the god Amun-Ra. This is the very heart of the temple, which extends almost into the mountain.