Silsila - Rock Chapel

To see the more important monuments, which are on the west bank of the Nile, take the ferry across the river and turn north. The well beaten track runs along the Nile, past tomb recesses and memorial inscriptions and through quarries, to a Rock Chapel, built during the reign of Horemheb (18th Dynasty) and adorned in subsequent centuries with reliefs and inscriptions, some of them of high artistic quality and great historical interest, in honor of kings and high dignitaries. The facade, with five doorways separated by pillars of varying width, is topped by a torus and cavetto cornice. On the lintel of the central doorway, now the only entrance to the chapel, are a winged solar disc and the names of Horemheb. The interior consists of a wide