Exploring a 3,500-Year-Old Egyptian Temple Built on a Cliff, Still Well Preserved

Nestled within the steep cliffs on the east side of the Valley of the Kings, the Temple of Hatshepsut stands quietly like a massive sandy staircase, enduring for three and a half millennia. This mortuary temple is not only the eternal resting place of the female pharaoh Hatshepsut but also a legendary monument carved from sandstone. Built against the mountain, the temple features a three-tiered platform structure that ascends layer by layer, exuding grandeur. Straight ramps connect the wide terraces, with clean and powerful lines that embody the beauty of modern architecture while radiating an ancient and mysterious aura. Most astonishingly, the entire structure perfectly integrates with the cliff behind it, as if it has grown out of the mountain itself, showcasing both the magnificence of human construction and the sublime craftsmanship of nature. Walking slowly up the ramp feels like entering the inner world of the female pharaoh. On the walls, the relief traces that were once deliberately erased are still discernible, silently telling the story of her extraordinary reign. Particularly moving is the depiction in image 5 of her in male attire—she presented herself as a man, not as a disguise, but as a resilient effort by a woman in a male-dominated tradition to legitimize her authority. Thanks to Egypt’s dry and rainless climate, many of the temple’s murals still retain some vivid colors. More than three thousand years seem to have slowed down here, allowing us to glimpse how this female pharaoh, who lived two thousand years before Wu Zetian, used this immortal building to resist being forgotten and ultimately won the battle against time.