Deir el-Bahari (the northern monastery) occupies a scenic site in the Western desert of the Luxor area, across the river from the Great Temple of Karnak. Steep cliffs in the shape of a horseshoe form a natural background two monumental buildings standing side by side, each belonging to a different period. he earlier one, on the left was built by King Nebhepetre Mentuhotep|(11th Dynasty), as a combined -toumb and funerary monument. More than 500 years later, the female pharaoh Hatshepsut(18th Dynasty), whose tomb is situated in the valley of the Kings, used the same site for the construction of her funerary temple:. The Polish expeditinn Which has been working at Deir el Bahari for more than a decade, discovered the remains of yet a third building situated between the two, but higher up the slope. It was identified as a small temple of King Tuthmosis Ill (18th Dynasty) who succeeded Hatshepsut on the throne of Egypt. This temple had escaped detection because it had been completely buried under a massive ancient rock-slide. All three monuments of Deir el-Bahari suffered much from looting, stone removal and depredation in late antiquity, yet the site retained its sanctity. During the Graeco-Roman period it served as a popular oracle and place of divination. Later it was converted into a Coptic monastery. Of the tomb of Mentuhotep, very little remains. Its plan contains many original features such as ramps leading to terraces and a square mass of construction, probably of pyramidal shape, surrounded by a double colonnade. Several rows of trees, of which the shallow pits with an occasional root are still visible in the sand, decorated the access to the monument. Some statues of the king seated were discovered along the processional alley. One of those statues is kept in the Cairo Museum. Winlock, the American Egyptologist who excavated the site for the Metropolitan Museum, unearthed precious burial equipment belonging to several female members of the royal family .these particulary fine items are also exhibited in the Egyptian Museum, Cairo.