Digital KarnakUniversity of California Santa Cruz
Digital KarnakRelated Features
Originally built by Amenhotep I – 1525 BCE to 1504 BCE
Other works initiated by Amenhotep I:
Middle Kingdom Court, Amenhotep I Calcite Chapel, Amenhotep I Limestone ChapelIntroduction
The limestone chapel of Amenhotep I was a replica of the “white chapel” of Middle Kingdom king Senusret I. The chapel was almost identical in size and design to the earlier “white chapel.” Both may originally have stood to the west of the temple precinct.
Measurements: Each of the columns measure 2.56m in height and are approximately 0.6m across and 0.6m deep. The platform on which the columns rest is 1.18m high and 6.80m by 6.45m.
Phases of Construction
Amenhotep I
The chapel may have served as a statue shrine or portable bark shrine for the image of Amun-Ra or the king. The chapel seems to have remained standing long enough to be incorporated into the “festival hall” of king Thutmose II.
Construction materials: limestone
About the reconstruction model of Amenhotep I
Because the chapel of Amenhotep I was a copy of the Middle Kingdom Senusret I “white chapel,” the dimensions of the “white chapel” were used to create a model of the Amenhotep chapel.
A plain limestone pattern was used to recreate the chapel’s stone color.
Destruction: Amenhotep III
When Amenhotep III decided to construct the third pylon, he dismantled all the chapels within the “festival court” of Thutmose II. Amenhotep’s limestone chapel was used as building fill within the new pylon.
Documentation
Graindorge, Catherine. Beinlich, Horst (2002),Der Tempel des Amun-Re von Karnak zu Beginn der 18.Dynastie. Ägyptologische Tempeltagung : Würzburg, 23.-26. September 1999. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag, 33vol. 5 , 83-90.