King Senusret I White Chapel - XII Dynasty (2040-1778 BC) - Karnak, Thebes, Luxor - Egypt

Last crawled date: 1 year, 7 months ago

The white chapel of King Senusert I is the oldest structure of all at Karnak Complex, Thebes, Luxor - Egypt. Built during the XII Dynasty (2040-1778 BC). This is one building project that was lost to us, but now is found in the little pavilion built for King Senusret I's first jubilee (Sed) festival, occurred during the king's 30th year as ruler (though it is probable that King Senusret's festival was held in his 31st year of rule). It was probably built to house the royal barque and is sometimes referred to as a 'barque shrine'. The White Chapel is a small, simple, but eloquent structure, built of Egyptian alabaster (calcite). It was probably built during the remarkable purity of form in this structure is echoed in the austerity of the temple at Qasr el-Sagha. Ramps led up on either side to the small rectangular building, situated on a platform, in which Senusret I himself possibly sat enthroned during part of his Sed festival. There are twelve pillars around the outside of the kiosk, with another four in the interior that support a complete roof. These pillars are decorated with raised reliefs on all four sides. The model is a faithful attempt to reconstruct the temple to scale using ancient Egyptian measurements of royal cubits (RC). 1 Royal Cubit = 0.524 mtr. / 52.4 cm. Height: 8 Royal Cubits (4.129 mtr.) Length: 11 RC (5.764 mtr.). Breadth: 10 RC (5.24 mtr.). After download, open with Google sketchup, check out the 'layers' option to see inside the temple. #Alabaster #antique #architecture #barque #calcite #cubit #Egypt #Egyptian #festival #Karnak #King #Luxor #Pavilion #pillar #pillars #ramp #Royal #sed #Senusret #shrine #Thebes #White_Chapel