Speos Artemidos: portico

The first room of the shrine, the only one prepared in times of Hatshepsut, was the portico. It was encircled with walls on three sides, south, west and east and remained open from the north. Inside the portico, two rows of pillars were cut in the rock. The façade of the portico was created by the north face of the first row of pillars. Above it, a big architrave was cut in the rock with a long inscription informing of the restoration of rituals and temples. It was irregularly recessed into the face of the rock which can prove that the location and orientation of the shrine were more important than the symmetry of its construction. The first row of the pillars was cut asymmetrically, the distance between the first pillar and the east wall was 1.72m in length, between pillars I to IV 1.92m, 1.73m, 1.92m respectively and between pillar IV and the west wall 3m.^[1] The pillars of the outer row differ from those that were constructed as the inner row. The outer pillars are sculptured on their south and north sides and they show the shape of Hathoric pillars as observed from the outside and of Osirid pillars as watched from the inside.^[2] Their side walls were inscribed with the royal protocol.^[3] The east face of pillar II and the west face of pillar III bear names of Thutmose III. The decoration seems to be unfinished in different degrees.^[4]

There were two scenes executed in times of Hatshepsut in the east part of the south wall of the portico which measured altogether 4.91m.^[5] They represent Thoth before Ennead and the coronation of Hatshepsut by Amun-Ra and Weret-Hekau-Pakhet. Nothing more survived from the decoration of the queen in Speos Artemidos, or, which is more probable, nothing more was executed during her reign. The irregular shape of the building seems to indicate the development by subsequent rulers, although it is difficult to attribute individual changes to them. At least the role of Thutmose III in the construction and decoration of the shrine remains undetermined.