El-Kab - Rock Temple

From the Temple of Amenophis it is a 15minute walk in the direction of the Nile to the Rock Temple on the right hand side of the valley, recognizable from a distance by the long flight of steps leading up to it. The temple, also dedicated to Nekhbet, was built in the reign of Ptolemy VIII Euergetes II and decorated with reliefs and inscriptions in the reign of Ptolemy IX Soter II. The staircase has 41 steps hewn from the rock, flanked on each side by a massive balustrade.

From the platform at the top of the steps we pass through adoorway intoa vestibule just under 33ft/10m wide, the roof of which was supported on columns with elaborate floral capitals. From here a door, the right-hand side of which is still standing, leads into a smaller hall 20ft/6m wide, which also had columns with screens between them; the floor is littered with fragments of stone. Beyond this is the rock chapel, originally a tomb chamber of the New Kingdom. It has a vaulted roof, in the middle of which are vultures hovering, Round the top of the walls runs a frieze consisting of the name of Ptolemy IX Soter II between heads of Hathor; below this are inscriptions and reliefs (largely destroyed) depicting the King and Queen in the presence of various deities.