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The first room
The temple of Dendur had two columns, forming a simple kiosk which is open at the front. Aldred
however mentions that two screen walls flanking the central entrance dissapeared, except for one
fragment. This is why we do know these screen walls were likely present in the original design of
the temple.
Aldred interpreted the first room as a pronaos, which is the room proceeding the sanctuary,
although the function could be compared to the hypostyle hall in larger temples according to him,
in which the ceiling is supported by several columns (Aldred 1978, 37; Curl 2006).
The hypostyle hall was located directly beyond the temple’s open court. It was usually broader
than it was deep. It was filled with columns, although a path was left clear in the middle where the
processional way, following the temples main axis towards the shrine, was located.
The hypostyle hall can be a representation of the earth pillar supporting the sky or of the
marshland that sprung up near the mound of creation. Therefore the capitals of the hypostyle hall
are usually decorated as water plants. The lowest parts of the walls can also have water plants in
relief. The architraves and the ceiling represented the sky. The walls of the hypostyle hall have one
main theme: multiple scenes of the king, facing the sanctuary, bringing offerings and performing
rituals to the gods who are facing the entrance of the temple (Málek and Baines 1981, 64).
Based on the fact that the first room only has two columns it does not seem very likely it was
designed as a traditional hypostyle hall. A hypostyle hall is usually at least made up of four
columns. Aldred however does not state it was designed as such, only that it functioned as one.
The first hall in the standard new kingdom temple would be the hypostyle hall, after which a
pronaos would follow. The hypostyle hall was the entry hall to the temple, the place where
processions went through and was decorated with symbols depicting the symbolic marshland that
the hypostyle hall usually represented. The first room in the temple of Dendur is located at the
front of the temple, also the columns are designed as water plants and decoration represents the
marshland. An example of this is a scene depicted on a raised relief in the first room, seen in figure
10. According to Aldred this is a depiction of the procession of the marsh gods (Aldred 1978, 38-39;
Wilkinson 2007, 24).