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The temple of Amenhotep I

The temple stands on the terrace above the Ptolemaic enclosure. This temple was dedicated to Amenhotep I (1514-1493 BC) and his mother Ahmose Nefertari, both of whom were deified by the villagers. The original structure was small and little remains of it. Many of the walls surrounding the site are later additions.

The temple consisted of an outer and inner hall, a pronaos and a shrine. Two steps led to the pronaos, which was decorated with a wall of red, white and black horizontal bands. Nothing remains of the royal couple to whom the temple was dedicated, depicted on a throne. Numerous statues by Drovetti, Schiaparelli, Bruyère and Baraize have been found on the site.
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Photography © 2009 Andre du Toit, S. Africa
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Photography © 2007  Lenka Peacock
The cult of Amenhotep I

From the 18th dynasty onwards, the main focus of religious worship in Deir el-Medina was the cult of Amenhotep I, especially in the form of the "Lord of the Village", together with his mother Ahmose-Nefertari. Jaroslav Černý pointed out that there were several forms of this cult in Deir el-Medina, corresponding to the statues, each of which had a particular name and was housed in the various sanctuaries established there (Černý,1927,182).
Amenhotep I Djeserkare (1514-1493 BC) was the second pharaoh of the 18th dynasty. He was probably very young when he ascended the throne, so it is likely that his mother, Queen Ahmose-Nefertari, acted as regent for the first part of his reign. They are jointly credited with the founding of Deir el-Medina, where they enjoyed personal religious cults until the late Ramesside period.
Apart from the modest temple that was primarily dedicated to the couple, they were also secondary worshippers in the chapels of other gods. The deified king had many festivals throughout the year, during which his statue was carried in procession by the Wab priests. These activities were acts of devotion to the deified mother and son and were consistently and exclusively performed by the workers of the village (Ventura 1986, p. 63). The feasts were fairly regular events and were usually part of religious festivals associated with the cult. One festival involved the carrying of the statue of Amenhotep I into the Valley of the Kings, another may have been associated with the anniversary of his death. The deified king was invoked to settle disputes, especially those concerning property. In these oracles the image of the god, Amenhotep I, answered positively or negatively to the questions put to him. Since the priests of this particular cult were drawn from the ranks of the workers themselves, the answer would be a kind of consensus among the priests who carried the divine image. The god's oracular pronouncements, however they were made, carried great weight, and his processions were a high point in the life of Deir el-Medina.  
The textual and representational evidence associated with her cult at Deir el-Medina can be seen in cult statues, votive stelae, libation basins, paintings and inscriptions in tombs and on ostraka. More than fifty of the Theban tombs of private individuals contain inscriptions mentioning the name of Ahmose Nefertari.
Below are examples of depictions of the deified couple. All are from Deir el-Medina and are now part of the museum collections.
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Petrie Museum, UCL UC33258
Queen Ahmose-Nefertari
Possibly from Deir el-Medina
19th dynasty, 1295-1186 BC
Limestone
Black ink with traces of a preliminary sketch in red.
Bust of Queen Ahmose-Nefertari, looking to the left. She wears a long tripartite wig and the vulture headdress.
The dating of the ostrakon takes into account the fact that Queen Ahmose-Nefertari was depicted with the "vulture" headdress after her deification in the Ramesside period.
Height: 11.8 cm
Width: 13.5 cm

Photography © Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, UCL
Photo by Lenka Peacock

Petrie Museum, UCL UC14379
Limestone fragment
Possibly from Deir el-Medina
Ramesside Period (1295-1069 BC)
Limestone
Height: 20.5 cm
Width: 14.5 cm

Fragment from a tomb. In the lower left part of the fragment there is the upper part of a royal head and face with a uraeus on the forehead. Above the head there is a cartouche of Ahmose-Nefertari, the queen of Ahmose I (1570-1546 BC), the mother of Amenhotep I.  
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Photography © Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, UCL
Photo by Lenka Peacock

Petrie Museum, UCL UC14223
Stela of Kaha
Probably from Deir el-Medina
20th dynasty (1186-1069 BC)
Limestone
Height: 20 cm
Width: 12.7 cm
This is the right part of a framed stela of Kaha. It shows the deified Amenhotep I standing to the left, holding a spear in his left hand. The two cartouches beside identify him as Amenhotep Djeserkare. To his right is a priest standing in worshipful position. The name of the priest is written in a hieroglyphic inscription above his head.

Photography © Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, UCL
Photo by Lenka Peacock

Egyptian Museum, Turin
Statue of the deified Amenhotep I
From Deir el-Medina
19th-20th dynasty
Painted limestone
On stylistic grounds the statue can be dated to the 19th or 20th dynasty, but it may be a copy of an older statue from the time of Amenhotep I himself. It was probably carried in processions during religious ceremonies. The seated pharaoh wears a nemes headdress, decorated with parallel blue and yellow stripes. He has a false beard attached to his chin (Museo Egizio,2019,132).

65 x 27 x 40 cm
Drovetti collection (1824)
Cat. 1372
Museo Egizio Information and photos
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Photography © Museo Egizio, Turin.
Photo by Lenka Peacock, 2019

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Egyptian Museum, Turin
Stela of Amenemope
From Deir el-Medina
Beginning of the 19th dynasty, reign of Seti I and Rameses II
Limestone
The stela is dedicated to Amenhotep I and Ahmose-Nefertari by the 'Servant in the Place of Truth' Amenemope and Amennakht.
Height: 30 cm
Width: 20 cm
Drovetti collection (1824)
Cat. 1452/bis
Museo Egizio Information & photo

Photography © Museo Egizio, Turin.
Photo by Lenka Peacock, 2019

Egyptian Museum, Turin
Stela of Parahotep dedicated to Amun-Re of Ipet, Meretseger and Amenhotep I
From Deir el-Medina
19th dynasty
Painted limestone
Round-topped
Meretseger was the goddess of the pyramidal peak overlooking the Theban necropolis. Her common name was "she who loves silence". She was worshipped mainly by the workmen of Deir el-Medina.

Drovetti collection (1824)
Cat. 1451/bis

Museo Egizio Information and photos
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Photography © Museo Egizio, Turin.
Photo by Lenka Peacock, 2019

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Egyptian Museum, Turin
Stela depicting Seti I and a vizier adoring Amenhotep I and Ahmose Nefertari
From Deir el-Medina
19th dynasty, reign of Ramesses II (1279-1213 BC)
Limestone with traces of paint
Round-topped
Upper part of a stela depicting Seti I on the right, followed by a Governor of the Town, Vizier (his name is lost), censing before Amenhotep I and Ahmose-Nefertari.
Schiaparelli excavations, 1905
Cat. 1466
Museo Egizio Information and photos

Photography © Museo Egizio, Turin.
Photo by Lenka Peacock, 2019

Although the next two images are not from Deir el-Medina, they are very closely related to the inhabitants of the workers' village. They depict the deified royal couple. Both fragments come from the Theban tomb of Kynebu, a priest "over the secrets of the estate of Amun". He served during the reign of Ramesses VIII towards the end of the New Kingdom (c. 1130 BC).
Neues Museum, Berlin, Inv.-No. ÄM 2061
Representation of the deified Pharaoh Amenhotep I
New Kingdom, 20th dynasty, 1152-1145 BC.
From Thebes, Inherkau's tomb TT 359 at Deir el-Medina
Painted plaster
Amenhotep I is shown wearing a blue cap-wig with an uraeus on the front. He is crowned with a sun disc. In his right hand Amenhotep holds a crook and a flail, symbols of royal power. In his left hand he holds an ankh, symbol of life. The king is depicted wearing the classic Shendjyt-kilt and a longer sheer linen robe.
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Photography © Neues Museum, Berlin
Photo by Lenka Peacock, 2011

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Neues Museum, Berlin, Inv.-No. ÄM 2060
Representation of the deified queen Ahmose-Nefertari
New Kingdom, 20th dynasty, 1152-1145 BC
From Thebes, Inherkau's tomb TT 359 at Deir el-Medina
Painted plaster
Ahmose-Nefertari wears a flowing, pleated dress, more typical of elite women of the Ramesside period (c. 1295-1069 BC) than of the period in which the queen lived. On her head she wears the vulture headdress of the goddess Mut, consort of the god Amun of Thebes, surmounted by a solar disc and ostrich feathers. The cobra on her crown and the flail in her hand indicate her royal status. The lotus flower was often held by deceased women as a symbol of rebirth. The black colour of Ahmose Nefertari's skin does not reflect her true colouring, but may symbolise regeneration.

Photography © Neues Museum, Berlin
Photo by Lenka Peacock, 2011

Sources:
1. Wilkinson, R. H. : The complete temples of Ancient Egypt.
London : Thames & Hudson, 2000.
2. Bomann, Ann H.: The private chapel in ancient Egypt : a study of the chapels in the workmen's village at el Amarna with special reference to Deir el-Medina and other sites.
London : Kegan Paul International, 1991.
3. Strudwick, Nigel and Helen: Thebes in Egypt : a guide to the tombs and temples of ancient Luxor
London : British Museum Press, 1999.
4. McDowell, A.G.: Village life in ancient Egypt : laundry lists and love songs
Oxford : Oxford University Press, 1999.
5. Pharaoh's workers : the villagers of Deir el-Medina / edited by Leonard H. Lesko
Ithaca : Cornell University Press, 1994.
6. Ventura, Raphael: Living in a city of the dead : a selection of topographical and administrative terms in the documents of the Theban necropolis
Freiburg (Schweiz) : Universitatsverlag, 1986.
7. Černý, Jaroslav: Le culte d’Amenophis 1er chez les ouvriers de la nécropole thébaine,
BIFAO 27 (1927).
8. Museo Egizio, English
Turin : Fondazione Museo delle Antichità Egizie di Torino, 2019.
9. Wilkinson, Toby: The Thames & Hudson Dictionary of Ancient Egypt
London : Thames & Hudson, 2008.
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