Part 1 of the performance "Elemental Transformation ISIS 2"

18th of April 2010
Karnak Temple/Luxor

  Water from the holy lake
  of the temple of Karnak

Most of the temples in ancient Egypt incorporated a holy lake. The priests washed themselves with this water and also used the water for their rituals. The inhabitants and the animals of the temple were provided with this water too. Thus the statue of Amun in the temple of Karnak was daily cleaned, freshly dressed and provided with food and water. Only then people left the holy of holies to devote themselfves to prayer or other duties. The most beautiful and also biggest holy lake can be seen in the temple city Karnak, where it had been installed by Thutmosis III. The lake is 120x78 metres large, completely intact even today and is supplied by a subterranean feed line so the water level never sank.
From this lake we took the water for our performance!

  Presentation of the water
  in the chamber of the barque

The barque’s chamber is an important part of the energy producing “nuclear power plant” of each temple. The barque-sanctuary is placed in front of the holy of holiness, the centre of the cult site and accommodates the barque of procession. It is a symbol for the sun barque on which the sun (sun=god=pharaoh) travels through day and night. The reliefs on the walls of the barque chamber tell from the journey of the sun barque on its procession to the temple of gods.

Thus the goddess itself is being carried – as a statue – in a shrine on the barque of procession outside the temple. This procession lasts several days and leads from one goddess to another: The Maat embodies the superior order and divine law and is being transported and charged in this process. The female pharaoh Hatschepsut (reigned from 1479-1458 BC) described these processions in the temple of Karnak and immortalized this in her sites of the barque.